COM., DEPT. OF TRANSP. v. Sorg
COM., DEPT. OF TRANSP. v. Sorg
Opinion of the Court
This is an appeal by the Department of Transportation, Bureau of Driver Licensing (DOT), from an order of the Court of Common Pleas of Elk County which sustained the appeal of Benedict Lawrence Sorg (Licensee) from DOT’S suspension of his operating privileges for failure to submit to chemical testing in accordance with the provisions of Section 1547 of the Vehicle Code, 75 Pa.C.S. § 1547.
The relevant facts are not in dispute on appeal. Licensee was arrested for suspected driving under the influence, taken to a nearby hospital, and read his constitutional rights under Miranda v. Arizona, 384 U.S. 436, 86 S.Ct. 1602, 16 L.Ed.2d 694 (1966). He was then asked to submit to a blood test and warned that failure to do so would result in the suspension of his operating privileges. Licensee indicated that he would not take the test until he spoke to his attorney to which the arresting officer responded that Licensee “didn’t have the right to hold up a blood test to contact his attorney.” N.T. 9. Nonetheless, the arresting officer gratuitously permitted Licensee to telephone his attorney, although his attempt to contact him was unsuccessful. Licensee thereafter continued to refuse the test pending contact with his attorney.
Finally, the arresting officer indicated that he was going to consider Licensee’s conduct a refusal to submit to testing. Thereafter, another officer (who was apparently a friend of Licensee’s) arrived at the hospital to assist the arresting officer. This officer believed he could convince Licensee to take the test and convinced the arresting officer to give Licensee another chance. He informed Licensee that Licensee need not even fill out a hospital waiver of liability form, that they could proceed directly to the laboratory for a blood test, and, that Licensee would be given the chance to contact his attorney. Twice more Licensee unsuccessfully attempted to reach his attorney. Finally, since
Licensee appealed DOT’s suspension action to the common pleas court which determined that while the arresting officer told Licensee he had no right to an attorney prior to taking the test, Licensee was nonetheless confused “because the officer assisted him in his attempts to contact an attorney by telephone.” Judge Paul Greiner, the trial judge, wrote:
[Although the officer had repeatedly told [Licensee] that he had no right to contact an attorney prior to submitting to the test, he did not explicitly distinguish between the Miranda privileges and the prerequisites of the chemical testing and his assistance to the defendant in trying to reach an attorney by phone cemented the confusion.
Accordingly, the trial court sustained the appeal on the basis of the rule set forth by our Supreme Court in Department of Transportation, Bureau of Traffic Safety v. O’Connell, 521 Pa. 242, 555 A.2d 873 (1989). Further appeal to this Court by DOT followed.
On appeal here we are asked to decide the question of whether the explanation given by the arresting officer was sufficient under O’Connell to advise Licensee that his Miranda right to counsel was inapplicable to the chemical testing procedures.
We begin by examining O’Connell. The Supreme Court held there that where an arrestee in response to the request to submit to chemical testing asks to speak to or call an attorney or anyone else the police must, in addition to advising the licensee of the one year suspension for refusal to submit to testing, “instruct the arrestee that such rights are inapplicable to the breathalyzer test and that the arrestee does not have the right to consult with an attorney or anyone else prior to taking the test.” Id., 521 Pa. at 252, 555 A.2d at 878.
The question which next arises is, must the officer explain why the Miranda rights do not apply or merely
We believe that because the concern in O’Connell relates to assisting licensees to make knowing and conscious refusals, a goal which can only be achieved by providing them with relevant information as to their rights, a bare warning that Miranda rights do not apply to the testing procedures is insufficient. A truly meaningful warning requires, in addition, an explanation as to why those rights do not apply. To require anything less contravenes the purpose of O’Connell and serves only to generate more confusion especially where, as in the instant case, the police gratuitously and laudably, allowed Licensee the opportunity to attempt to contact an attorney while inartfully explaining to him that he was not entitled to do so. We observe that we previously held in Department of Transportation, Bureau of Driver Licensing v. McGarvey, 136 Pa. Commonwealth Ct. 358, 583 A.2d 39 (1990), that an explanation of why Miranda rights are inapplicable in chemical testing procedures is required under O’Connell Our opinion today does not depart from that view, but merely explains it in more detail.
This Court must be candid that when O’Connell was first decided we applied it only in highly limited factual situations, a view urged on us by DOT. Thereafter, we were faced with reversals in Commonwealth v. McFadden, 522 Pa. 100, 559 A.2d 924 (1989) and Mihalaki v. Department
More recently the Supreme Court has, in a per curiam order, reversed our unreported decision in Department of Transportation, Bureau of Driver Licensing v. Zubritsky, 137 Pa.Cmwlth. 647, 584 A.2d 1105 (1990), rev’d, 527 Pa. 287, 590 A.2d 754 (1991) (per curiam), and remanded the case for a new trial.
Having determined that a bare warning that Miranda rights do not apply to chemical testing procedures is insufficient, we next move to the question of what is sufficient. DOT maintains in its brief that the gravamen of our recent cases applying O’Connell “is that police officers have to recite the O’Connell warning nearly verbatim from Justice Papadakos’ opinion [in O’Connell] in order for the warning to meet the McLuckie standard.”
1. That an individual’s constitutional rights when accused of a crime do not apply to the chemical testing procedure under Pennsylvania’s Vehicle Code.
2. Specifically, that the licensee has no right to consult with counsel or anyone else before taking the test.
3. That the Miranda protections are not applicable because chemical testing is a civil procedure, not a criminal proceeding, and the Miranda protections only apply in criminal proceedings, but the licensee’s refusal to submit to the testing may be introduced in evidence in a subsequent criminal proceeding.5
Further, if after giving the Miranda warning and an O’Connell explanation, the police gratuitously allow a licensee to attempt to contact counsel or anyone else they must further explain that their act is a gratuitous one; that by law they do not have to allow the licensee to contact anyone; and, that they can unilaterally withdraw their gratuitous decision without impinging upon the licensee’s constitutional rights.
If Miranda warnings are not given, a similar analysis is required. First, we emphasize that we adhere to the position expressed in Appeal of Attleberger, 136 Pa.Commonwealth Ct. 329, 583 A.2d 24 (1990), petition for allowance of appeal granted, 527 Pa. 625, 592 A.2d 45 (1991) (licensee testified he was confused because he thought that once he took a preliminary field test he need not submit to further testing), and Department of Transportation, Bureau of Driver Licensing v. Wicks, 136 Pa.Commonwealth Ct. 322, 583 A.2d 21 (1990), that where no Miranda warnings are given and there is no overt manifestation of confusion, no O’Connell warning is re
1. That the right to counsel is a constitutional right and applies only to criminal proceedings, not to civil proceedings.
2. That the request to submit to chemical testing is not a criminal proceeding, that it is a civil proceeding, but the licensee’s refusal to submit to the testing may be introduced in evidence in a subsequent criminal proceeding.7
3. That the licensee does not have a right to contact an attorney or anyone else before taking the test nor does he have the right to remain silent as to the testing procedures; that is, licensee must affirmatively agree to submit to the chemical testing.
This is completely in accord with McGarvey where we held that under O’Connell even in situations where Miranda warnings are not given, if a licensee asks to speak with an attorney the police must explain “that such constitutional rights do not extend to and are totally inapplicable under the implied consent law set out in the Vehicle Code.” McGarvey, 136 Pa.Commonwealth Ct. at 363, 583 A.2d at 41. Further, if the police, in their discretion, determine to allow the licensee to attempt to contact counsel or someone else, they must also give the additional explanation discussed above that such decision is discretionary with the officer and may be unilaterally revoked without impinging upon the licensee’s constitutional rights.
Affirmed.
ORDER
NOW, April 3, 1992, the order of the Court of Common Pleas of Elk County in the above-captioned matter is hereby affirmed.
. This case was first argued before the Court, en banc, on June 12, 1991. By an order filed January 29, 1992, this case was submitted on briefs to the present en banc panel on March 4, 1992.
. This order was apparently based solely on the allocatur petition filed by the licensee.
. We express our surprise as to the reversal in Zubritsky because the Supreme Court had indicated in McFadden that “since [McFadden] has preserved this issue on appeal to us, we will apply the holding of O’Connell to this case____" McFadden, 522 Pa. at 103, 559 A.2d at 925. We had assumed from this that the O’Connell issue would have to be raised diligently at every level of the proceedings. See also Department of Transportation, Bureau of Driver Licensing v. Foley, 528 Pa. 257, 597 A.2d 89 (1991) (reversing this Court’s opinion filed March 26, 1991 where O’Connell was not an issue on appeal here).
. McLuckie v. Department of Transportation, Bureau of Driver Licensing, 136 Pa.Commonwealth Ct. 315, 583 A.2d 18 (1990), petition for allowance of appeal denied, 527 Pa. 654, 593 A.2d 425 (1991). The McLuckie standard is in fact nothing but a reiteration of the O'Connell standard. It requires that the police "specifically advise the licensee that the right to counsel does not apply to [chemical] tests.” As previously noted, O’Connell requires the police to "instruct the licensee that [Miranda ] rights are inapplicable to the breathalyzer test.” While O’Connell uses the term “breathalyzer” no valid legal argument could be made that its holding does not apply to blood and urine tests as well, both of which sire also authorized under Section 1547 of the Vehicle Code.
. See Section 1547(e) of the Vehicle Code, 75 Pa.C.S. § 1547(e). Of course, Section 1547(b)(2) of the Vehicle Code already further requires the police to specifically warn the licensee that his refusal will result in a revocation of his driver’s license in an administrative proceeding. See O’Connell, 521 Pa. at 248-49, 555 A.2d at 876.
. We do not view the rule in Attleberger and Wicks as inconsistent with Zubritsky since there may be some argument that confusion over the implied consent law is closely related to confusion over Miranda rights. Zubritsky may, however, call into question the correctness of our holding in Department of Transportation, Bureau of Driver Licensing v. Tomczak, 132 Pa.Commonwealth Ct. 38, 571 A.2d 1104 (1990). See Fiester, 136 Pa.Commonwealth Ct. at 347 n. 4, 583 A.2d at 34 n. 4.
. See supra note 5.
Dissenting Opinion
dissenting.
I respectfully dissent. The majority applies the per se confusion rule which was set forth in Department of Transportation, Bureau of Driver Licensing v. Fiester, 136 Pa.Commonwealth Ct. 342, 583 A.2d 31 (1990), petition for allowance of appeal denied, 528 Pa. 632, 598 A.2d 285 (1991) to hold that because Sorg was given both the implied consent warnings and the Miranda warnings, and because he asked for an attorney and was allowed by the police officers to attempt to contact his attorney, Sorg was per se
By applying the per se rule, the majority relieves Sorg of the requirement that he make a showing that he was unable to make a knowing and conscious refusal because he was confused about his right to an attorney. For the reasons set forth in my dissenting opinion in Department of Transportation, Bureau of Driver Licensing v. Hoover, 147 Pa.Commonwealth Ct. 70, 606 A.2d 1264 (1992), I would hold that Sorg did not meet his burden of proving that his refusal to take a chemical test was not knowing and conscious; therefore, Sorg’s driving privileges should have been suspended pursuant to Section 1547 of the Vehicle Code, 75 Pa.C.S. § 1547.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- COMMONWEALTH of Pennsylvania, DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION, BUREAU OF DRIVER LICENSING, Appellant, v. Benedict Lawrence SORG, Appellee
- Cited By
- 37 cases
- Status
- Published