The Minnesota DWI Case Of The Week is State v. Rice (Decided December 18, 2017, Minnesota Court of Appeals, Unpublished) which stands for the proposition that if the district court makes a factual finding of "good faith", the Court of Appeals will not overturn the lower court's ruling.
In Rice, the Defendant was stopped for speeding in Olmsted County and was subsequently arrested for DWI. After reading the Minnesota Implied Consent Advisory, the Defendant told the trooper that he wanted to call an attorney prior to testing. The trooper provided the Defendant with a telephone and directories.
The Defendant told the trooper he would not be able to read the directories without glasses. The trooper made two efforts to find reading glasses or a magnifying glass for respondent, but his efforts were unsuccessful. The trooper also suggested that respondent telephone a friend or family member to assist him in contacting an attorney, but respondent declined to do this and said the trooper or another officer should get the glasses that respondent had in his car and bring them to the detention center. The trooper replied that neither he nor another officer could leave the detention center to go to respondent's car for his glasses.
The Defendant had difficulty recalling the name of the attorney he wanted to call and whose number he wanted. He specifically asked the trooper, "Would you look the number up for me?" The trooper answered, "No sir, I'm not gonna look up a number for you." The Defendant did not take a breath test.
Following a contested omnibus hearing, the district court concluded that the Defendant had not been allowed to vindicate his right to counsel prior to taking a breath test and granted his motions to suppress the evidence of his exchange with the trooper during the implied-consent advisory and to dismiss the test-refusal charge.
The State appealed the district court's ruling but the Minnesota Court of Appeals agreed with the district court, stating:
"An individual who invokes his right to counsel before taking a breath test "must make a good faith and sincere effort to reach an attorney." Kuhn v. Comm 'r of Pub. Safety, 488 N.W.2d 838, 842 (Minn. App. 1992), review denied (Minn. Oct. 20, 1992). Whether a good faith and sincere effort was made is a factual determination that this court reviews for clear error."
"The district court determined that respondent 'made a good faith effort to contact an attorney' because he repeatedly asked for reading glasses or a magnifying glass so he could read the directories. We agree with the district court that the trooper had no obligation to retrieve respondent's reading glasses from his car or to send another officer to do so, and we note that detention centers have no obligation to provide reading glasses in order to satisfy a driver's right to contact an attorney."
"The district court went on to conclude that the trooper 'could have easily assisted [respondent] in vindicating his right to counsel by looking in the phone book and providing [respondent] with the phone number of the attorney [respondent] requested.' Because respondent did not identify the attorney whose phone number he wanted, the trooper should have asked him for the attorney's name. Had the trooper done so, respondent would have either identified an attorney, whose number the state trooper could have looked up, or have been unable to identify an attorney, and, in that case, the state trooper would have had neither the ability nor the obligation to look up a number. While an officer has no obligation to read a driver all or any part of the list of attorneys provided in a directory, there is an obligation under to assist a driver who is unable to read the directory by asking if there is a specific attorney whom the driver wants to call and, if possible, providing the number of that attorney."
Moral Of The Story: If you have been arrested for a DWI, always ask to speak to an attorney prior to testing!
If you or a loved one are facing a Minnesota DWI, feel free to contact Minnesota DWI Attorney, F. T. Sessoms for answers to all of your Minnesota DWI and DUI questions.
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