State v. Nice
State v. Nice
Opinion
[¶1] Jasmine Ellen Nice appealed from a district court judgment entered on her conditional plea of guilty to driving under the influence-refusal-first offense in violation of N.D.C.C. § 39-08-01(1)(e)(2) pending an appeal of the court's order denying her motion to dismiss. Nice argues N.D.C.C. § 39-08-01(1)(e) is unconstitutional, the deputy violated her due process rights when he read her the implied consent advisory multiple times, and the State's failure to execute the search warrant should result in dismissal of the refusal charge. Because Nice refused to take a urine test after a search warrant was secured, we affirm the judgment.
I
[¶2] On April 25, 2018, a deputy stopped a vehicle driving without tail lights. The driver, Nice, admitted smoking marijuana earlier in the day. Nice consented to field sobriety testing and a preliminary breath test. After completing the tests, the deputy read Nice the implied consent advisory and stated the test would be for urine. The advisory included the criminal penalties for refusing a breath or urine test. Nice consented to the test. The deputy read Nice her Miranda rights and arrested her for driving under the influence of drugs. After some discussion with Nice, the officer re-read her the implied consent advisory including criminal penalties. Nice declined to take the test. Another officer then informed the deputy he needed a warrant for a urine test. Other officers transported Nice to jail and the deputy obtained a search warrant. At the jail, the deputy informed Nice he had a warrant for a urine test and read the implied consent *104 advisory for urine from the search warrant. Nice refused to provide a urine sample.
[¶3] After she refused to comply with the warrant, the State charged Nice with driving under the influence-refusal-first offense, a class B misdemeanor. Nice filed a motion to dismiss on June 21, 2018. The district court issued an order denying the motion to dismiss. Nice entered a conditional plea of guilty on September 7, 2018.
II
[¶4] Nice argues the district court erred in denying her motion to dismiss because N.D.C.C. § 39-08-01(1)(e) is unconstitutional, Nice's due process rights were violated by the deputy reading her the implied consent advisory multiple times, and the State's failure to execute the search warrant should result in dismissal of the refusal charge. The State and the Attorney General allege Nice cannot challenge the constitutionality of N.D.C.C. § 39-08-01(1)(e) because the State did not charge her with refusing a chemical test, in this case a urine test, until after a warrant was obtained.
[¶5] This Court will not reverse a trial court's findings of fact in preliminary criminal proceedings, such as a motion to dismiss, if, after the conflicts in the testimony are resolved in favor of affirmance, there is sufficient competent evidence fairly capable of supporting the findings and if the trial court's decision is not contrary to the manifest weight of the evidence.
State v. Thill
,
[¶6] Nice argues N.D.C.C. § 39-08-01(1)(e) is facially unconstitutional because its language is misleading in light of
Birchfield v. North Dakota
and
State v. Helm
.
See
Birchfield
, --- U.S. ----,
[¶7] Here, the State did not charge Nice with refusal of a warrantless urine test. "Generally, a party may only challenge the constitutionality of a statute as applied to that party."
State v. Dvorak
,
III
[¶8] Nice argues the fact the deputy read her the N.D.C.C. § 39-20-01(3)(a) implied consent advisory three times violated her due process rights. The implied consent advisory Nice received stated refusal of a urine test is a crime punishable in the same manner as a DUI. See N.D.C.C. § 39-20-01(3)(a). Two readings of the implied consent advisory occurred prior to *105 the deputy obtaining a search warrant. Nice argues the multiple readings of the advisory misinformed her of her right to refuse a warrantless test and negated her ability to make an informed decision.
[¶9] When deciding a due process claim, we consider if a constitutionally protected property or liberty interest is at stake and, if so, if minimum procedural due process requirements were met.
State v. Loomer
,
[¶10] We recently stated "[s]ole reliance on multiple recitations of the advisory by the deputy is insufficient to show involuntariness of consent."
Krueger
,
IV
[¶11] Nice argues the refusal charge should be dismissed because the State did not execute the search warrant and obtain a urine sample after her refusal. However, Nice did not adequately brief this issue or provide support for her assertion the State is required to execute a search warrant, especially in light of N.D.C.C. § 39-20-04. We decline to address inadequately briefed issues.
See
Daniels v. Ziegler
,
V
[¶12] We affirm the district court's judgment.
[¶13] Gerald W. Vande Walle, C.J.
Jerod E. Tufte
Daniel J. Crothers
Lisa Fair McEvers
Jon J. Jensen
Reference
- Full Case Name
- STATE of North Dakota, Plaintiff and Appellee v. Jasmine Ellen NICE, Defendant and Appellant
- Cited By
- 11 cases
- Status
- Published
- Syllabus
- A defendant may not challenge the constitutionality of a statute they were not charged under. A defendant who refuses to take a chemical test cannot rely solely on multiple recitations of the implied consent advisory to prove violations of due process rights. The Court will not address inadequately briefed issues.