State v. Morton, Unpublished Decision (5-10-1999)
State v. Morton, Unpublished Decision (5-10-1999)
Opinion of the Court
On January 1, 1998, at approximately 12:48 a.m., Ohio State Trooper Michael Williams observed appellant operating her vehicle with no headlights on traveling southbound on Interstate 75 north of State Route 63. Williams initiated a traffic stop and observed that appellant had a strong odor of alcohol, bloodshot eyes and slightly slurred speech. Appellant performed poorly on three field sobriety tests and was placed under arrest for DUI.
At the Hamilton highway patrol post, appellant agreed to submit to a BAC Datamaster breath test. Williams administered the test and appellant tested .180 of one gram of alcohol per two hundred ten liters of breath, clearly over Ohio's legal limit. Appellant filed a motion to suppress the results of her breath test. Appellant alleged that the test was not taken in accordance with the time limitations of R.C.
Williams testified at the hearing on appellant's motion to suppress and brought documents pertaining to the BAC Datamaster machine which had been used to perform her breath test. These documents included the entire log book kept at the Hamilton Highway Patrol Post. Copies from that book of the instrument check forms completed for the BAC Datamaster on December 27, 1997 and January 2, 1998, were introduced into the record. The parties stipulated to the admission of the printout showing the results of appellant's test. Following the hearing, the trial court overruled appellant's motion to suppress, stating in pertinent part that "the state has met its burden of proof in reference to the tests and how they were administered to the defendant." Appellant then pleaded no contest and was convicted and sentenced accordingly. Appellant has raised one assignment of error:
THE TRIAL COURT ERRED TO THE PREJUDICE OF DEFENDANT-APPELLANT WHEN IT OVERRULED HER MOTION TO SUPPRESS.
Specifically, appellant contends that (1) breath test results were not maintained for three years; (2) the police failed to test the three required bands for radio frequency interference ("RFI"); (3) the state failed to produce evidence that a senior operator performed instrument checks on the breath testing machine; (4) the state failed to prove that the simulator solution (used in testing the calibration of the breath testing machine) was properly refrigerated; (5) the state failed to prove that the simulator solution was properly kept in its container; (6) the state failed to prove that a manual from the manufacturer of the breath testing machine was on file in the area where breath tests are conducted; and (7) the combination of the above errors.
When deciding a motion to suppress evidence, the trial court serves as the trier of fact and is the primary judge of the credibility of witnesses and the weight of evidence. State v.Fanning (1982),
In all of her contentions, appellant argues that the state failed to demonstrate compliance with the applicable Ohio Department of Health ("ODH") regulations. R.C.
We further note that although independent analysis has shown that appellant's challenges did not merit suppression of her breath testing results, some of those challenges, especially her first and final challenge, may also have been waived pursuant to the law espoused in Xenia v. Wallace (1988),
In Wallace, the Supreme Court noted that Crim.R. 47 provides that a motion for a court order "shall state with particularity the grounds upon which it is made and shall set forth the relief or order sought." The court stated that the reason for requiring specificity is that the prosecutor cannot be expected to anticipate the defendant's specific legal and factual grounds.
The prosecutor must know the grounds of the challenge in order to prepare his case, and the court must know the grounds of the challenge in order to rule on evidentiary issues at the hearing and properly dispose of the merits. * * * Failure on the part of the defendant to adequately raise the basis of his challenge constitutes a waiver of the issue on appeal.
Id. at 218 (citations omitted).
In State v. Clark (Mar. 19, 1998), Logan App. No. 8-97-14, unreported, the Third District Court of appeals held that a defend ant had waived his challenge to a RFI survey on the basis that only one radio was used during the test. This claim had been waived because the motion to suppress had challenged the survey "solely on the claim that the officer failed to test the correct frequency bands when performing the * * * survey." Id. at 3.
Here, although appellant arguably raised claims concerning RFI frequency checks, calibration and calibration solution, and senior operator's licensing in her motion to suppress, there was no specific challenge to the Hamilton Highway Patrol Post's record keeping or its filing of the breathalyzer manufacturer's manual, such as are presented in appellant's first and sixth listed challenges. Nevertheless, we will address each argument raised.
In her first challenge, appellant argues that Williams could not testify as to how long results of the calibration tests for the breathalyzer had been maintained. Ohio Adm. Code
Results of instrument checks and records of maintenance and repairs shall be retained, in accordance with paragraph (A) of Rule
3701-53-01 of the Administrative Code.
Ohio Adm. Code
In State v. Gerrard (July 27, 1998), Warren App. No. 97-10-107, unreported, this court held that "breathalyzer calibration or maintenance records more than two years are not integral to evaluating the veracity of the breathalyzer result." In Gerrard, the defendant had access to two complete years of retained records to evaluate the operation of the breathalyzer. We distinguished two cases appellant has cited3 because in those cases the evidence revealed that the state had only kept records of successful calibration checks and not of failed checks. Such incomplete and misleading record keeping demonstrated prejudice. Here, appellant has not raised any claim that the records were similarly misleading. In State v. Williams (Apr. 7, 1998), Franklin App. No. 97APC09-1141, unreported, the Tenth District Court of Appeals held that substantial compliance was established even though unsuccessful calibration checks were not retained, because they were recorded in a manner which ensured that the record was not substantially misleading or prejudicial. Similarly, here, records for the life of the machine are in substantial compliance with the regulations. Less than strict technical compliance does not require suppression where no prejudice has been shown.
We recognize that the accuracy of a breath analysis test result is a critical issue in determining the guilt or innocence of a defendant charged with a violation of R.C.
Without prejudice, appellant's claim fails. It is difficult to imagine how appellant could have been prejudiced. In State v.Knoll (Aug. 5, 1998), Medina App. No. 2771-M, unreported, for instance, the evidence established that the BAC Datamaster was "functioning within a legally acceptable range at the time of Knoll's breath test." The court found that fact was "not altered by a mistake in the transcription of the bottle number of the solution used to test the machine." Therefore, despite a minor procedural irregularity, there was substantial compliance with the requirements set forth in the Ohio Administrative Code regarding the testing for the BAC Datamaster at issue.
Similarly, the evidence here showed that the BAC Datamaster was functioning properly at the time of appellant's test. The evidence also showed that the instrument had been tested and found to be working properly within the regulatory time frame before and after appellant's test. These crucial facts are not affected by a failure to affirmatively establish that records have been kept for three years. In the absence of any indication of misleading or altered records, records for the life of the machine are in substantial compliance with the regulations. See State v.Plummer (1986),
In her second challenge, appellant argues that the state did not prove that a radio frequency interference (RFI) survey was properly performed on all three bands. In State v. Gaebel (1997),
However, effective July 7, 1997, Ohio Adm. Code
A senior operator shall perform an instrument check on approved evidential breath testing instruments and a radio frequency interference (RFI) check no less frequently than once every seven days in accordance with the appropriate instrument checklist as set forth in appendices A to D to this rule. The instrument check may be performed any time up to one hundred and ninety hours after the last instrument check.
Appendices A through D are the instrument check forms for the four approved evidential breath testing machines. All of the approved machines contain internal RFI detectors.
The instrument check forms for the BAC Datamaster now require that a test of the internal detector be conducted by transmitting "using handheld radio near instrument, without touching it, until RFI Detector aborts the test." The BAC Datamaster instrument check forms introduced into evidence at appellant's suppression hearing clearly indicate that the RFI check was conducted in compliance with this applicable regulation on December 27, 1997 and again on January 2, 1998. Because the regulations cited inGaebel were superseded by those which became effective on July 7, 1997, the new regulations are controlling. Compliance with these regulations was established. Therefore, appellant's second issue also does not warrant suppression.
In her third challenge, appellant argues that the state did not establish that the instrument checks on the breathalyzer had been conducted by a senior operator. Ohio Adm. Code
In State v. Ward (1984),
Although the records here were not certified, the originals were brought to court. The admission or exclusion of relevant evidence rests within the sound discretion of the trial court. Statev. Sage (1987),
Appellant cites State v. Brown (Apr. 13, 1992), Butler App. No. 91-07-043, unreported, in support of her related argument that there was no admissible evidence that the instrument checks were indeed performed by an officer who held a valid senior operator's permit. In Brown, the trial court had taken judicial notice of the operator's senior operator status based on a previous case. This court ruled that was unacceptable as the state had failed to establish the necessary foundation. However, in Mason v. Armour
(Mar. 13, 1999), Warren App. No. 98-03-033, unreported, we held that "the key question in such cases is whether [the officer] had the status of senior operator on that date, not whether the state admitted the operator's license." (Citation omitted.) In Armour, the record contained a "verification" of the contested senior operator's status, including his permit number and its expiration date. We found that the record therefore contained evidence of the officer's status as a senior operator, even though it did not contain an actual copy of his permit. Similarly, in State v.Adams (Oct. 17, 1995), Pickaway Co. App. No. 94CA21, unreported, the Fourth District Court of Appeals held that "foundational evidence" establishing senior operator status can be provided by the BAC Datamaster Test Report Forms which are signed by the officers underneath the legend "senior operator signature." See, also, State v. Young (1993),
The analysis of Armour and Adams is persuasive. Moreover, here there was additional evidence that the officer conducting the crucial pretest calibration held senior operator status as Williams had brought that officer's senior operator permit to the hearing. Therefore, appellant's third challenge to the admission of the breathalyzer results is without merit.
In her fourth and fifth challenges, appellant argues that there was no evidence of compliance with Ohio Adm. Code
Calibration solutions shall be kept under refrigeration after first use, when not being used. The calibration solution container shall be retained for reference until the calibration solution is discarded.
As this court explained in State v. Snider (May 5, 1997), Warren App. No. 96-10-102, unreported:
Calibration is a process used to determine whether the results produced by a breath testing machine are accurate. A breath testing machine must be calibrated once every seven days. The process involves pumping a calibration solution, with an optimum reading provided by ODH, into the machine. The calibration check is valid when the result produced by the machine is at the optimum value plus or minus five one-thousands (0.005) grams per two hundred ten liters. Pursuant to ODH regulations, calibration solutions must be kept under refrigeration when not being used.
In Snider, the evidence did not "specifically [establish] that the calibration solution was refrigerated when not being used." However, we found that there was evidence that the calibration testing was administered in conformity with ODH regulations so that specific testimony that the solution was refrigerated was not required. In State v. Nagel (1986),
Although our research has revealed no cases on failure to affirmatively establish that the solution was kept in the proper container, a similar analysis applies. No prejudice has been shown and appellant's fourth and fifth challenges do not warrant suppression.
In her sixth challenge, appellant claims that the result of her breath test should have been suppressed because there was no evidence establishing compliance with Ohio Adm. Code
Finally, appellant has asserted that the cumulative effect of each of the six issues she has presented required suppression. Be cause none of her previous arguments had merit, this challenge also fails. Non-error plus non-error does not equal error. Appellant's sole assignment of error is overruled.
Judgment affirmed.
WALSH and VALEN, JJ., concur.
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.