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State v. Forcier5/20/1994
ve the offense of LSA, the State need only show that a person failed to stop after an accident or failed to give identification and other required information to the injured party or an enforcement officer. 23 V.S.A. § 1128(a). Evidence of defendant's blood-alcohol content was not relevant to the element of the offense. Because (c) is written to minimize when arrests are made for misdemeanors by making citation in lieu of arrest the norm and arrest the exception, we conclude that (B) did not apply. Consequently, defendant could not have been arrested for LSA, and the interrogation could not have been grounded on such an arrest.
Because the officers were without authority to interrogate defendant while he was under arrest, we agree that the statements defendant made at the police barracks must be suppressed. Defendant urges that we go further and declare the arrest void ab initio and suppress the breath test, in addition to the statement. We do not agree that the unauthorized interrogation voided the arrest from its inception. Defendant cites no authority for his argument, and we do not find it persuasive. The interrogation was not authorized by Rule 3, and the remedy is suppression. Laflin, 160 Vt. at , 627 A.2d at 346. The arrest and breath sample were authorized by Rule 3(a)(5), and the breath test is admissible.
The trial court's ruling denying suppression of testimonial evidence gathered through interrogation at the police barracks is reversed. The cause is remanded.
FOR THE COURT:
Denise R. Johnson, Associate Justice
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