Wednesday, September 5, 2018

Minnesota DWI Attorney F. T. Sessoms Blogs on Minnesota DWI: This Week's Featured Minnesota DWI Case

The Minnesota DWI Case Of The Week is State v. Hyrdahl (Decided September 4, 2018, Minnesota Court of Appeals, Unpublished) which stands for the proposition that if the Implied Consent Advisory is technically correct as read to the Defendant, then the advisory does not violate due process.

In Hyrdahl, the Defendant was arrested for DWI and at the jail, the arresting the officer read the breath-test advisory to Mr. Hyrdahl. The Defendant contacted an attorney and, after speaking to his attorney, agreed to take the offered breath test. Defendant's alcohol concentration was 0.14.

The Defendant filed a motion to suppress the evidence resulting from his agreement to take the breath test, alleging that the breath-test advisory violated his due-process rights. Defendant agreed that while it is against the law to refuse to consent to a breath test, the advisory seemed to suggest that it was against the law to refuse to consent to any test, a misstatement of the law. The district court agreed and suppressed evidence resulting from his agreement to take the breath test, finding that the advisory, as read by the officer, was misleading and violated defendant's due-process rights. 

The State appealed the District Court and the Minnesota Court of Appeals reversed the lower court, stating:

"Minnesota law requires law enforcement to provide an advisory prior to administering a breath test to a driver. Minn. Stat. § 169A.51, subd. 2 (2016). The advisory must inform drivers that "Minnesota law requires [them] to take a test," "that refusal to submit to a breath test is a crime," and that they may consult with an attorney. Id. Failing or refusing such a test can result in license revocation. Minn. Stat. § 169A.52, subds. 3, 4 (2016)."

"In the criminal context, like this case, due process requires that criminal defendants be treated with fundamental fairness. Id. A due-process violation in a criminal prosecution for driving while impaired occurs when a breath test is obtained through coercion. Id. An implied-consent advisory is coercive if it is misleading. State v. Stumpf, 481 N.W.2d 887, 889-90 (Minn. App. 1992)."

"Here, the advisory given by law enforcement did not violate respondent's due-process rights because it was not misleading. The officer informed respondent that Minnesota law required him to take "a test" to determine the presence of alcohol. The officer then informed respondent that refusal to take "a test" is a crime. The officer informed respondent that he had a right to consult with an attorney, and respondent then spoke with an attorney. Lastly, the officer offered respondent a "breath test," and respondent consented to take the breath test. The officer accurately informed respondent that his failure to take the breath test could result in criminal penalties. Therefore the advisory did not misstate the law."

"The district court determined that the instruction was misleading because the officer informed respondent that refusal to take a "chemical test" is a crime. The court determined this was a misstatement of the law because a driver may refuse certain chemical tests like those for blood or urine and such a refusal is not a crime. See State v. Thompson, 886 N.W.2d 224, 234 (Minn. 2016); State v. Trahan, 886 N.W.2d 216, 224 (Minn. 2016). But based on the record, the officer did not instruct respondent that refusal to take a chemical test is a crime and instead explained that refusal to take a test is a crime. And, the only test offered to respondent was a breath test; the instruction accurately described that refusal to take the offered breath test would be a crime. The officer never asked respondent to take a blood or urine test. Given the circumstances, the breath-test advisory was not misleading."

Moral Of The Story: Close enough for government work!
If you or a loved one have been charged with a Minnesota DWI, feel free to contact Minnesota DWI Attorney, F. T. Sessoms at (612) 344-1505 for answers to all of your Minnesota DWI and DUI questions.


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