The Minnesota DWI Case Of The Week is Jackson v. Commissioner of Public Safety (Decided March 14, 2022, Minnesota Court of Appeals, Unpublished) which stands for the proposition that the burden is on the petitioner to establish physical inability to provide an adequate breath sample.
In Jackson, the Petitioner was arrested for a DWI and he agreed to take a breath test on the DataMaster machine at the police station. During the first attempt, Jackson started and then stopped blowing into the machine, broke a mouthpiece, coughed into the mouthpiece, removed the mouthpiece from his mouth and stared at the officers, dropped the mouthpiece, and chatted with the officers. On the second attempt, Jackson stopped the breath sample to talk, coughed, ignored instructions, puffed his cheeks, and started and stopped blowing. And during the third attempt, Jackson repeated his earlier behaviors. Despite three attempts, Jackson did not provide a sufficient breath sample for testing.
According to the DMT operator, Jackson was “deliberately attempting to beat the test” by “doing as little as he possib[ly could] to try and do the test without actually doing the test.” The second officer present did not believe that Jackson was “deliberately trying to not take the test,” but he saw no indication that Jackson was having difficulty breathing into the machine. Both officers recalled that Jackson remarked about smoking cigars. But Jackson never claimed to the officers that he was physically unable to complete the tests.
Jackson filed a petition challenging the revocation of his driver's license and during the district court hearing, Jackson provided numerous explanations for his failure to provide a sufficient breath sample, including seasonal allergies, nervousness and anxiety around law enforcement, cigar smoking, and inadequate instructions from the officers.
The district court sustained the revocation and on appeal, the Minnesota Court of Appeals affirmed the lower court, noting:
"Failure to provide two adequate breath samples constitutes a refusal under Minnesota’s implied-consent law. Minn. Stat. § 169A.51, subd. 5(a), (c) (2020). But a driver may prove as an affirmative defense that the refusal to submit to a chemical test “was based on reasonable grounds.” Minn. Stat. § 169A.53, subd. 3(c) (2020). A driver’s inability to provide a breath sample is one such ground that may be raised at an implied- consent hearing. Wolle v. Comm’r of Pub. Safety, 413 N.W.2d 258, 260 (Minn. App. 1987). To rely on this affirmative defense, a driver must prove by a preponderance of the evidence that he was unable to provide adequate breath samples due to physical inability. Bale v. Comm ’r of Pub. Safety, 385 N.W.2d 870, 873 (Minn. App. 1986). Whether a person is physically unable to provide a breath sample is a question of fact for the district court that we review for clear error. Burke v. Comm’r of Pub. Safety, 381 N.W.2d 903, 904 (Minn. App. 1986)."
"Jackson contends that he satisfied his burden of proof by presenting sufficient evidence of his physical inability to test. Because the district court did not clearly err in finding otherwise, we disagree."
"Although Jackson testified that he was unable to provide a sufficient breath sample for various reasons—including allergies, anxiety, and cigar smoking—the district court found that his testimony was not credible. Moreover, the district court noted that Jackson failed to introduce any independent evidence to support his claim that he was unable to take the DMT breath test. These findings are not clearly erroneous. Jackson’s testimony was the sole evidence provided in support of his affirmative defense. And we defer to the district court’s credibility determinations."
Moral Of The Story: It is good to be a blowhard when you are taking a breath test!
If you or a loved one have been charged with a Minnesota DWI, feel free to contact Minnesota DWI Lawyer, F. T. Sessoms at (612) 344-1505 for answers to all of your Minnesota DWI and DUI questions.
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