Commonwealth v. MacMullan
Commonwealth v. MacMullan
Opinion of the Court
Thomas MacMullan (MacMullan) appeals the August 19, 1992 order of the Court of Common Pleas of Westmoreland County (Common Pleas) denying his appeal from a one year suspension of his operating privilege pursuant to Section 1547(b)(1) of the Vehicle Code (Code), 75 Pa.C.S. § 1547(b)(1).
By notice mailed April 15, 1991, the Department of Transportation, Bureau of Driver Licensing (Department) informed MacMullan that his operating privilege would be suspended because of his refusal to submit to chemical testing. He appealed the suspension to Common Pleas pursuant to Section 1550(a) of the Code, 75 Pa.C.S. § 1550(a).
On August 19, 1992, Common Pleas issued its opinion and order denying MacMullan’s appeal. According to that opinion, both police officers explained the “implied consent law,”
He was given the Implied Consent Law warning and testified that he understood it, but he simply did not believe it to be the law. This is not the kind of confusion which warrants a more detailed explanation of the law than was given by the police officers in this case. Therefore, [MacMullan’s] appeal must be denied.
MacMullan presents the following issue for this Court’s review:
Whether [MacMullan] was capable of making a knowing and conscious refusal to submit to the breathalyzer test when, upon his request to have a witness present, the police failed to advise him that he did not have the right to contact anyone before taking the test and that such chemical testing is not a criminal proceeding but is a civil proceeding, even though Miranda warnings did not precede the request for chemical testing?
“Our scope of review in license suspension cases is limited to determining whether the trial court’s findings of fact are supported by substantial evidence and whether the trial court committed an error of law or abused its discretion.” McCallum v. Commonwealth, 140 Pa.Commonwealth Ct. 317, 320 n. 3, 592 A.2d 820, 822 n. 3 (1991).
[I]n license suspension cases under Section 1547(b) of the Vehicle Code, the Commonwealth must establish that the
Once the Commonwealth meets its burden, it is the driver’s responsibility to prove that he was not capable of making a knowing and conscious refusal to take the test. This is a factual determination which is to be made by the trial court.
Department of Transportation, Bureau of Traffic Safety v. O’Connell, 521 Pa. 242, 248-49, 555 A.2d 873, 876 (1989) (citation omitted).
MacMullan argues that when a licensee manifests confusion, requesting to speak to a lawyer or someone else prior to submitting to a chemical test, regardless of whether the Miranda warning was given, the police must, pursuant to Department of Transportation, Bureau of Driver Licensing v. Sorg, 147 Pa.Commonwealth Ct. 82, 606 A.2d 1270, petition for allowance of appeal denied, 531 Pa. 657, 613 A.2d 561 (1992), explain the following to the licensee:
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.
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, a licensee must affirmatively agree to submit to the chemical testing.
Id. at 91, 606 A.2d at 1275 (footnote omitted). According to MacMullan, by asking to have a witness present when he took the breathalyzer test, he was manifesting confusion.
The Department counterargues that MacMullan’s request for a witness to observe his breathalyzer test is not the sort of confusion which triggers the need for the chemical testing warning, which is also known as the O’Connell warning.
The O’Connell warning is necessary because there is a constitutional right to consult with an attorney when one is arrested and the possibility exists that an arrestee may mistakenly believe that he has the right to speak to an attorney before submitting to the blood-alcohol test. There is no similar constitutional right to speak to a doctor about one’s medical condition during an arrest, and therefore, there is no danger of confusion as envisioned by O’Connell. Although our opinion in Fiester speaks of the right to speak to an attorney or ‘someone else,’ that right to speak to ‘someone else’ must be a request to speak to someone concerning the exercise of the right to remain silent.
Wright, 142 Pa.Commonwealth Ct. at 82, 598 A.2d at 87. We believe that the matter sub judice is similar to Wright, in that there is no constitutional right to have a witness present when one is asked to submit to a chemical test procedure. Here, as in Wright, there was no request to speak to a lawyer or someone else with regard to one’s constitutional right to remain silent. MacMullan testified that he wanted to have a witness present, so “that I should have somebody there who could be independent and observe what was going on.”
Accordingly, the order of the Court of Common Pleas of Westmoreland County is affirmed.
ORDER
AND NOW, this 22nd day of June, 1993, the order of the Court of Common Pleas of Westmoreland County in the above-captioned matter is affirmed.
. 75 Pa.C.S. § 1547(b)(1) provides:
If any person placed under arrest for a violation of section 3731 (relating to driving under influence of alcohol or controlled substance) is requested to submit to chemical testing and refuses to do so, the testing shall not be conducted but upon notice by the police officer, the department shall suspend the operating privilege of the person for a period of 12 months.
. 75 Pa.C.S. § 1550(a) provides: “Any person ... whose operating privilege has been ... suspended ... by the department shall have the right to appeal to the [appropriate common pleas] court....”
. Miranda v. Arizona, 384 U.S. 436, 86 S.Ct. 1602, 16 L.Ed.2d 694 (1966).
. Officer Giacchino, who is certified to administer the breathalyzer test, testified at the hearing that MacMullan did not ask to have a witness present. Officer David Brown of the Monroeville Police Department also testified at the hearing. Officer Brown was the arresting officer and was present during the attempted administration of the breathalyzer test. Officer Brown was not asked whether MacMullan requested to have a witness present.
. What is commonly known as the implied consent law is Section 1547(a) of the Code, 75 Pa.C.S. § 1547(a). The implied consent law provides:
Any person who drives, operates or is in actual physical control of the movement of a motor vehicle in this Commonwealth shall be deemed to have given consent to one or more chemical tests of breath, blood or urine for the purpose of determining the alcoholic content of blood or the presence of a controlled substance if a police officer has reasonable grounds to believe the person to have been*352 driving, operating or in actual physical control of the movement of a motor vehicle:
(1) while under the influence of alcohol or a controlled substance or both; or
(2) which was involved in an accident in which the operator or passenger of any vehicle involved or a pedestrian required treatment at a medical facility or was killed.
. The information which Sorg, as modified by Elko, requires that a licensee exhibiting confusion be told was first required by O’Connell, which provides:
Accordingly, where an arrestee requests to speak to or call an attorney, or anyone else, when requested to take a breathalyzer test, we insist that in addition to telling an arrestee that his license will be suspended for one year if he refuses to take a breathalyzer test, the police 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.
O’Connell, 521 Pa. at 252, 555 A.2d at 878.
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.