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State v. Gaffney2/24/2000
ill's failure to read the admonitions was not a violation of the statute and, accordingly, was not a proper basis on which to suppress the test results. We will not reverse a trial court's ruling on a motion to suppress evidence absent clear and manifest error. State v. Rodriguez, 186 Ariz. 240, 921 P.2d 643 (1996).
The interpretation and application of a statute is a legal issue that we review de novo. State v. Korzuch, 186 Ariz. 190, 920 P.2d 312 (1996). When construing a statute, our goal is to identify and give effect to the intent of the legislature. State v. Williams, 175 Ariz. 98, 854 P.2d 131 (1993). We look first to the statute's language, based "on the presumption that the legislature says what it means," Bustos v. W.M. Grace Development, 192 Ariz. 396, 398, 966 P.2d 1000, 1002 (App. 1997), and, if the language is clear and unambiguous, we must apply it without resorting to other methods of statutory interpretation. Hayes v. Continental Ins. Co., 178 Ariz. 264, 872 P.2d 668 (1994).
Section 28-1321(A) provides that any "person who operates a motor vehicle in this state gives consent . . . to a test or tests of the person's blood, breath, urine or other bodily substance for the purpose of determining alcohol concentration" when a law enforcement officer has reasonable grounds to believe that the person has been driving while under the influence of intoxicating liquor or drugs. Section 28-1321(B) provides in relevant part:
After an arrest a violator shall be requested to submit to and successfully complete any test or tests prescribed by subsection A of this section, and if the violator refuses the violator shall be informed that the violator's license or permit to drive will be suspended or denied for twelve months, . . . unless the violator expressly agrees to submit to and successfully completes the test or tests. A failure to expressly agree to the test or successfully complete the test is deemed a refusal. The violator shall also be informed that if the test results show a blood or breath alcohol concentration of 0.10 or more, . . . the violator's license or permit to drive will be suspended or denied for not less than ninety consecutive days.
(Emphasis added.)
The statute's language clearly and unambiguously states that a DUI suspect need be informed about the consequences of his or her refusal to submit to a blood, breath, or urine test if, and when, the suspect refuses such a request. Upon such refusal, the statute provides both that the "violator shall be informed" about the consequences of refusing to submit to a test and, in parallel fashion, that the "violator shall also be informed" about the consequences of having a BAC over the legal limit. This phrasing and placement strongly suggest that both provisions must be read together and apply after the violator refuses the test.
Gaffney argues, without support, that the statute's language and " he legislative intent . . . would indicate that the warnings be given prior to any test." Our contrary reading of the statute, however, is bolstered by the legislature's 1983 amendment to the implied consent statute, then A.R.S. § 28-691. That amendment deleted language that had required a law enforcement officer to inform a suspect about the consequences of his or her refusal to submit to a test during a fifteen-minute period between the arrest and the administration of the test and replaced it with the current language that requires such a warning "if the violator refuses" to submit to the test. 1983 Ariz. Sess. Laws, ch. 279, § 5. Our interpretation is also consistent with the "purpose of the implied consent [statute, which is] to remove drunk drivers from this state's highwa
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