City of Bismarck v. Vagts
City of Bismarck v. Vagts
Opinion of the Court
[¶1] Melanie Vagts appeals from a criminal judgment entered after the district court denied her motion to suppress evidence and she conditionally pled guilty to a charge of actual physical control of a motor vehicle while under the influence of alcohol. We conclude law enforcement officers' encounter with Vagts was not an illegal search and seizure, but an officer's implied consent advisory did not substantively comply with the statutory requirements of N.D.C.C. § 39-20-01(3)(a) and the results of her breath test are not admissible under N.D.C.C. § 39-20-01(3)(b). We reverse and remand to allow Vagts to withdraw her conditional guilty plea.
I
[¶2] In August 2018, the City of Bismarck charged Vagts with actual physical control of a motor vehicle while under the influence of alcohol. According to Bismarck Police Officer Adam Baker, he encountered Vagts in the driver's seat of a parked *525vehicle while responding to a fellow officer's report of a vehicle being driven erratically. According to Officer Baker, he observed two occupants in a parked vehicle matching the fellow officer's description of the erratically driven vehicle, he parked his squad car a car length behind the vehicle without activating his overhead lights, and he observed keys being thrown out of the passenger's side window. Officer Baker testified the passenger window of the parked vehicle was open, he heard loud music coming from the vehicle, and he could smell the odor of alcohol coming from the vehicle. According to Officer Baker, he asked the occupants to turn the music down and began speaking with them. Officer Baker testified he asked the occupant of the driver's seat, later identified as Vagts, to get out of the vehicle. Officer Baker testified that when Vagts got out of the car, he could smell alcohol coming from her as he talked to her, her speech was a "little bit" slurred, and she had red, bloodshot eyes. According to Officer Baker, Vagts repeatedly denied driving the vehicle and refused to consent to field sobriety tests. Officer Baker testified he arrested Vagts and read her the Miranda warning and language from the implied consent advisory in N.D.C.C. § 39-20-01(3)(a), which the prosecution stipulated omitted the phrases "directed by the law enforcement officer" and "a crime." Vagts submitted to a chemical test indicating her blood-alcohol level was above the legal limit, and she was charged with actual physical control of a motor vehicle while under the influence.
[¶3] Vagts moved to suppress evidence, claiming that Officer Baker's initial encounter with her violated her state and federal constitutional rights to be free from unreasonable searches and seizures and that Officer Baker failed to comply with the statutory implied consent advisory in N.D.C.C. § 39-20-01(3)(a). After an evidentiary hearing, the district court denied Vagts' motion to suppress. The court determined that law enforcement officers' encounter with Vagts did not violate her constitutional rights and that Officer Baker provided a substantively complete statutory implied consent advisory under N.D.C.C. § 39-20-01(3)(a). Vagts then entered a conditional guilty plea to the charge.
II
[¶4] We have described our standard of review of a district court decision on a motion to suppress:
[W]e defer to the district court's findings of fact and resolve conflicts in testimony in favor of affirmance. We will affirm a district court's decision on a motion to suppress if there is sufficient competent evidence fairly capable of supporting the trial court's findings, and the decision is not contrary to the manifest weight of the evidence. Our standard of review recognizes the importance of the district court's opportunity to observe the witnesses and assess their credibility. Questions of law are fully reviewable on appeal, and whether a finding of fact meets a legal standard is a question of law.
State v. Bohe ,
III
[¶5] Vagts argues that Officer Baker illegally seized her in the parked vehicle in violation of her constitutional right to be free from unreasonable searches and seizures and that all evidence obtained after that seizure must be suppressed. She claims Officer Baker did not have a reasonable and articulable suspicion that she had violated the law when he ordered her *526to turn down the music and exit the vehicle.
[¶6] The Fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution and N.D. Const. art. I, § 8, prohibit unreasonable searches and seizures. State v. Reis ,
[¶7] In Abernathey ,
[¶8] Relying on the rationale from Abernathey ,
IV
[¶9] Vagts argues Officer Baker failed to comply with the statutory implied consent advisory in N.D.C.C. § 39-20-01(3)(a) and as a result her chemical breath test is inadmissible under N.D.C.C. § 39-20-01(3)(b) and State v. O'Connor ,
[¶10] Under N.D.C.C. § 39-20-01, when an individual is placed under arrest for driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs, a law enforcement officer is authorized to request the individual submit to a chemical test of the individual's blood, breath, or urine. Bohe ,
[¶11] At the time of Vagts' arrest, the implied consent advisory in N.D.C.C. § 39-20-01(3)(a)
The law enforcement officer shall inform the individual charged that North Dakota law requires the individual to take a chemical test to determine whether the individual is under the influence of alcohol or drugs and that refusal of the individual to submit to a test directed by the law enforcement officer may result in a revocation of the individual's driving privileges for a minimum of one hundred eighty days and up to three years. In addition, the law enforcement officer shall inform the individual refusal to take a breath or urine test is a crime punishable in the same manner as driving under the influence. If the officer requests the individual to submit to a blood test, the officer may not inform the individual of any criminal penalties until the officer has first secured a search warrant.
At the time of Vagts' arrest, N.D.C.C. § 39-20-01(3)(b) stated, "A test administered under this section is not admissible in any criminal or administrative proceeding to determine a violation of section 39-08-01 or this chapter if the law enforcement officer fails to inform the individual charged as required under" N.D.C.C. § 39-20-01(3)(a).
[¶12] The parties agree the advisory given by Officer Baker omitted the phrases "directed by the law enforcement officer" and "a crime" under the applicable language of N.D.C.C. § 39-20-01(3)(a).
[¶13] The district court decided Officer Baker's failure to strictly comply with the implied consent advisory in N.D.C.C. § 39-20-01(3)(a) did not render the results of her breath test inadmissible. The court said the omission of the phrase "directed by the law enforcement officer" did not substantively change the advisory or mislead Vagts because a reference to law enforcement officers was made at the beginning and end of the advisory and the context of the advisory conveyed that the request for a chemical test was by a law enforcement officer. The court also decided the omission of the word "crime" was not fatal to the advisory because other words in the advisory communicated that failure to take a test was punishable in the same manner as the crime of driving under the influence.
[¶14] We have recently considered issues involving compliance with the implied consent advisory language in N.D.C.C. § 39-20-01(3). See State v. Vigen ,
*528Korb v. N.D. Dep't of Transp. ,
[¶15] In O'Connor ,
[¶16] In LeClair ,
[¶17] Here, the issue is whether an implied consent advisory may be substantively complete despite the omission of the phrases "directed by the law enforcement officer" and "a crime." We conclude the officer's omission of the phrase "directed by the law enforcement officer" was a substantive omission and did not comply with the statutory requirements for the implied consent advisory. We need not consider whether omission of the words "a crime" was also a substantive omission.
[¶18] Under N.D.C.C. § 39-20-01(2), "[t]he law enforcement officer shall determine which of the tests is to be used." Under N.D.C.C. § 39-20-02, an individual tested may have an additional test administered in addition to any test administered at the direction of a law enforcement officer. The omission of the phrase "directed by the law enforcement officer" does not accurately inform the individual charged that the law enforcement officer determines which chemical test shall be taken. The omission creates uncertainty about whether the individual charged may pick the test the individual must take, which is contrary to the specific language of N.D.C.C. § 39-20-01(2) that the "officer shall determine which of the tests is to be used." The omission also creates uncertainty regarding the juxtaposition of the test directed by the law enforcement officer and the individual's opportunity for an additional test. In contrast to the test directed by the law enforcement officer, the type of test as well as the location and provider are chosen by the individual seeking an additional test. We conclude that the advisory given in this case did not substantively comply with the statutory requirement *529that the individual charged must take a chemical test "directed by the law enforcement officer" and that the result of a subsequent breath test is inadmissible under the applicable language of N.D.C.C. § 39-20-01(3)(b).
[¶19] Because we conclude the omission of that phrase did not comply with the statutory requirement, we do not consider whether the omission of the phrase "a crime" substantively complied with the statutory requirements of N.D.C.C. § 39-20-01(3)(a).
[¶20] We conclude the implied consent advisory given to Vagts did not substantively comply with N.D.C.C. § 39-20-01(3)(a) and the result of her breath test is inadmissible under N.D.C.C. § 39-20-01(3)(b).
V
[¶21] We reverse the district court judgment and remand for further proceedings to allow Vagts to withdraw her guilty plea.
[¶22] Jerod E. Tufte
Daniel J. Crothers
Jon J. Jensen
Lisa Fair McEvers
VandeWalle, Chief Justice, concurring specially.
[¶23] I concur with the majority opinion, except as to part IV with which I concur only in the result. I believe the failure to inform Vagts that refusal to submit to the breath test is a crime is covered by the settled law in State v. O'Connor ,
[¶24] Gerald W. VandeWalle, C.J.
Section 39-20-01(3), N.D.C.C., was amended by 2019 N.D. Sess. Laws ch. 322, § 3, and now provides:
a. The law enforcement officer shall inform the individual North Dakota law requires the individual to take a chemical test to determine whether the individual is under the influence of alcohol or drugs and refusal of the individual to submit to a test directed by the law enforcement officer may result in a revocation of the individual's driving privileges for a minimum of one hundred eighty days and up to three years.
b. If an individual refuses to submit to testing under this section, proof of the refusal is not admissible in any administrative proceeding under this chapter if the law enforcement officer fails to inform the individual as required under subdivision a.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- CITY OF BISMARCK, and v. Melanie Jean VAGTS, and
- Cited By
- 8 cases
- Status
- Published