AN ANALYSIS of the POTENTIAL LEGAL CONSTRAINTS on the USE of ADVANCED ALCOHOL-TESTING TECHNOLOGY Paul A
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AN ANALYSIS OF THE POTENTIAL LEGAL CONSTRAINTS ON THE USE OF ADVANCED ALCOHOL-TESTING TECHNOLOGY Paul A. Ruschmann Kent B. Joscelyn Murray Greysun Hal 0. Carroll The University of Michigan Highway Safety Research Institute Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109 April 1980 Prepared for U.S. Department of Transportation National Highway Traffic Safety Administration Washington, D.C. 20590 Contract No. DOT-HS-7-01536 Document is available to the public through the National Technical Information Service Springfield, Virginia 22161 AN ANALYSIS OF THE POTENTIAL LEGAL CONSTRAINTS ON THE USE OF ADVANCED ALCOHOL-TESTING TECHNOLOGY Paul A. Ruschmann Kent B. Joscelyn Murray Greyson Hal 0. Carroll The University of Michigan Highway Safety Research Institute Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109 April 1980 Prepared for U.S. Department of Transportation National Highway Traffic Safety Administration Washington, D.C. 20590 Contract No. DOT-HS-7-01536 The contents of this report reflect the views of the authors, who are responsible for the facts and accuracy of the data presented herein. The contents do not necessarily reflect the official views or policy of the Department of Transportation. This report does not constitute a standard, specification, or regulation. This document is disseminated under the sponsorship of the Department of Transportation in the interest of information exchange. The United States Government assumes no liability for its contents or use thereof. The United States Government does not endorse products or manufacturers. Trade or manufacturer's names appear herein solely because they are considered essential to the object of this report. Document is available to the public through the National Technical Information Service Springfield, Virginia 22161 Tubicol Ropott Documtation Page ' 1. R.rorc No. 2. Accession No. 3. Rocipimt's Ceioleg NO. 4. Titlo md Subtitle 5. R.port Doto April 1980 AN ANALYSIS OF THE POTENTIAL LEGAL CONSTRAINTS ' 6. Prioming ~r~ir~ti~~COA ON THE USE OF ADVANCED ALCOHOL-TESTING TECHNOLOGY , 8. Porfoming Orgonirotion Report NO. 7. A""')Paul A. R~schmann,Kent B. Joscelyn, UM-HSRI-80-32 Murrav Grevson. Hal 0. Carroll 9. Pw(.minw Orgmixoiion Nread Address 10. Wort Unit No. Highway Safety Research Institute 11. Coniroct or Gront NO. The University of Michi an DOT-HS-7-01536 Ann Arbor, Michigan 481% 9 13. TYW of R.pori ond Period Cororod 12. Spmswing Agawl Nao md Address Final Report U.S . Department of Transportation Nov. 1976 Apr. 1980 National Highway Traffic Safety Administration - Washington, D.C. 20590 ,,. I...snn9 code 15. krpCI-iay Netor This volume is one of a series of documents dealing with legal constraints relevant to countermeasure development and implementation produced under Contract No. DOT-HS-7-01536. 1'6. Abstroct An analysis was made of the potential legal constraints on the use of existing and proposed devices that would be used at the roadside by police officers to measure drivers' blood alcohol concentrations. Examination of current law revealed the chief constraints to be: the constitutional requirement that searches and seizures be "reasonable"; state implied-consent legislation; and court decisions that require the retention of breath ampoules. As a result of these constraints: Devices requiring the tested subject's cooperation cannot be used unless there is "probable causettto arrest for driving while intoxicated; legislation requiring that an officer arrest a driver before testing precludes the administration of all prearrest tests in most states; implied-consent legislation offers drivers a number of options that could limit the use of certain testing devices in some states; and police officers and prosecutors in a few states must retain breath ampoules for possible further testing. Constraint resolution strategies include: administering active tests only when probable cause exists; amending implied-consent legislation to permit the use of new devices; and appealing adverse court decisions where necessary. 17. Koy Wwds 18. Distribution Statommi Drinking Drivers, Breath Testing, 'rearnest Screening, Implied This document is available to the Search and Seizure, Arrest, public through the National Technical Courts, Constitutional Law, Traffic Infomat ion Service, Springfield, Svst om Virginia 22161 19. &ri* CIoauf. (mI this nrrt) - m. Swri+y Classif. (of his pqo) 21. No. of P-0s 22. Price UNCLASSIFIED UNCLASSIFIED 64 ACKNOWLEDGMENT This volume is one of a series produced over a three-year period and therefore represents the combined work product of a large number of individuals. The legal constraints study was designed by Kent B. Joscelyn, J.D., who served as project director. Paul A. Ruschmann, J.D., coordinated project activity, developed the basic draft of this volume, and supervised the work of the many student assistants who participated in this study. Murray Greyson, J.D., and Andrew M. Walkover, J.D., coordinated earlier phases of project activity and compiled much of the legal background material necessary to produce this document. Hal 0. Carroll, J.D ., participated in the production of earlier drafts and provided valuable legal and technical review. James E. Haney edited this report. Special thanks are due to Professors Jerold H. Israel and Richard 0. Lempert of The University of Michigan Law School, who served as critical reviewers of the many work products. Policy Analysis Division staff who participated in this study included David G. Baldwin, J.D.; John W. McNair, J.D.; Dennis M. Powers, J.D.; and William C. Wheeler, Jr., J.D. Legal research and updating and citechecking of legal authorities were ably performed by the following law student assistants: Paul E. Bateman, John M. Coyne, John E. Grenke, Donald R. Garlit, Amy Greyson, Marcia McKenzie, Patricia Ramsey, Lawrence D. Rosenstock, James D. Tomola, Linda Throne, Theodore J. Vogel, Francis J. Wirtz, and Kent L. Weichman. In addition, Judith L. Cousins, Susan M. Kornfield, Mary Ann Snow, and Susan J. Wise served as research assistants. Special recognition must be expressed to those in the Administrative Zone of the Policy Analysis Division, without whose efforts this volume would not have been produced: Anne L. VanDerworp, Word Processing Unit supervisor, and Deborah M. Dunne who assisted her; Jacqueline B. Royal, Administrative Zone supervisor; Olga S. Burn, Policy Analysis Division executive assistant; Shirley E. Barnes; Judy M. Hunter; Janet C. Peters; Kathryn A. Szegedy; and Douglas J. VanDenBerg. Thanks are also expressed to the many individuals, too numerous to mention individually, who typed previous drafts of these volumes. Appreciation is also expressed to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration's Contract Technical Managers, Dr. Richard P. Compton and Mr. Theodore E. Anderson, for their assistance throughout this study. Kent B. Joscelyn, J.D. Paul A. Ruschmann, J.D. Principal Investigator Principal Investigator CONTENTS 1.0 INTRODUCTION 1 1.1 Purpose of Volume 2 1.2 Background 3 1.3 Content of Volume 5 2.0 IDENTIFICATION AND DISCUSSION OF LEGAL ISSUES 7 2.1 Constitutional/Statutory Authority to Use Breath-Testing Oevi ces 7 Constitutional Authority 7 Statutory Authority 8 2.2 Constitutional/Statutory Issues Affecting the Circumstances Under Which Devices May Be Used 9 Authority of Police Officers to Stop Vehicles and Investigate Drivers 10 Whether the Use of Testing Devices is a "Search" 11 Justification Required to Use Active and Passive Devices 13 Statutory Provisions Governing the Circumstances Under Which Devices May Be Used 22 Summary 24 2.3 Legal Considerations Affecting the Use of Test Results as Evidence of DWI 2 5 Due Process of Law: The Guarantee of a Fair Trial 26 Scientific Validity 26 Statutory and Admini strative Regul ations Governing A1 coho1 Testing 27 Potential Tort Liability of Police Officers 2 8 Evidential Use of Breath Test Results 29 Pol icy Considerations Found in Other Areas of Highway Safety 3 1 Summary 32 2.4 Summary of Legal Issues 3.0 APPROACHES TO CONSTRAINT RESOLUTION 3.1 Constitutional Constraints 3.2 Statutory Constraints 3.3 Judicial Constraints 3.4 Summary 4.0 CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS APPENDIX A APPENDIX 8 FOOTNOTES BIBLIOGRAPHY 1.0 INTRODUCTION This is one of a set of volumes concerned with the legal feasibility of proposed highway crash countermeasures. This volume addresses legal issues associated with the use of instruments to measure the alcohol concentration in the breath of drivers. The devices considered are in various stages of development. Some are in existence but are undergoing refinement as the state of technology develops. For example, a number of devices now exist that can quantitatively determine breath alcohol concentration (BAC). The quantitatively determined BAC value is used as evidence of impairment in prosecution of driving while intoxicated (DWI) offenses (1). In general, these devices are used at fixed locations, such as a police station. New technology is expected that would allow the manufacture of these devices in a portable form, which would allow their convenient use by an officer for roadside testing of a suspected offender. Other devices are in a conceptual stage. They may be technically feasible, although that has not been established. The purpose of this inquiry is to identify the likely legal constraints that would be associated with their use to aid in determining if development of the devices should be pursued. An example of such a device is the Non-Cooperative Breath Tester (NCBT). This device would allow an officer to collect a breath sample from the normally expelled breath of a subject--the subject's cooperation would not be required to provide a breath sample. We term the NCBT a passive device because it does not require the subject's cooperation. Devices that require a subject to provide a breath sample by blowing into a collection system are termed active devices. Active devices may collect a sample and store it temporarily for analysis within the same unit. Other active devices simply collect a breath sample and retain it for later analysis. Such devices are referred to as remote sampling devices or remote collection devices.