 |
 |
to fill out a simple form to connect to DUI Lawyers in your area.
|
|
|
|
|
Sites v. Maryland9/12/1984
The primary issue in this case is whether a person apprehended for driving while intoxicated has a statutory or constitutional right to consult counsel before deciding whether to submit to a chemical sobriety test.
I.
The record establishes that Jacob Edward Sites was stopped for drunk driving at approximately 12:45 a.m. on May 15, 1982. At 12:55 a.m., while still at the scene, the arresting officer read Sites a standardized statement of his rights and the penalties for refusal to submit to a chemical test under the State's implied consent statute, Maryland Code (1984 Repl.Vol.), § 16-205.1 of the Transportation Article. Upon the police officer's request, Sites agreed to
take a chemical sobriety test and signed the required consent form. The officer then drove him to the Howard County Police Station, a five-minute journey by car from the location of the arrest. According to Sites' testimony at trial, he thrice requested permission to telephone his attorney at some point after arriving at the police station, both before and after the test was administered, but the arresting officer said he had no right to counsel. The arresting officer's testimony was that Sites could have made such requests, although the officer had no such recollection. A breathalyzer test was administered to Sites at 1:25 a.m., resulting in a finding of 0.17 percent ethyl alcohol by weight. Sites was formally charged at 1:45 a.m. with driving while intoxicated.
Sites filed a pretrial motion to suppress the test results on the ground, inter alia, that he was denied his right to counsel prior to the administration of the chemical sobriety test. The Circuit Court for Howard County (Nissel, J.) ruled as a matter of law that Sites had no such right to consult counsel. The court said:
"As far as his being entitled to an attorney, there's no law that I know of that he's entitled to an attorney for the purpose of taking advice of taking a test."
Sites was thereafter convicted by a jury of driving while intoxicated. We granted certiorari prior to consideration of Sites' appeal by the Court of Special Appeals to consider the issue of public importance raised in the case. 298 Md. 353, 469 A.2d 1274.
II.
The Statutory Right to Counsel
Sites maintains that he had a statutory right to consult counsel before deciding whether to submit to a chemical test for sobriety. He contends that § 16-205.1 of the Transportation Article and § 10-309 of the Courts Article mandate that police provide an opportunity to persons apprehended for drunk driving to communicate with counsel before making the decision whether to submit to the test.
Section 10-303 of the Courts Article requires that the chemical sobriety test be administered within two hours "after the person accused is apprehended." Section 10-309 provides, with certain exceptions not here applicable, that a person may not be compelled to submit to such a test. The section further provides that no inference or presumption concerning guilt arises because of refusal to submit to the test, and that the fact of refusal to submit is not admissible in evidence at the trial. Section 16-205.1(a) of the Transportation Article explicitly states that any person who operates a motor vehicle in this State is deemed to have consented (with exceptions not here pertinent) to take a chemical test to determine alcohol content if apprehended on suspicion of drunk driving. Subsection (b)
Page 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Maryland DUI Attorneys
DUI Lawyers
|
| |
to fill out a simple form to connect to DUI Lawyers in your area.
|
|