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White v. Maryland12/6/1991
This is an appeal in which the appellant contends that first the District Court and then the circuit court erred in refusing to allow him to subpoena the State's toxicologist as a witness in the appellant's trial on charges of driving while intoxicated. We conclude that the appellant's argument is without merit, and accordingly affirm the Circuit Court for Worcester County.
FACTS AND PROCEEDINGS
On June 18, 1990, Harold Thomas White, Jr. was arrested for driving while intoxicated and for other related offenses. After White's arrest, he was given a document entitled "State of Maryland Notification to Defendant of Result of Test for Alcohol Concentration." It indicated that a breath specimen collected from White within two hours of his arrest "was found to contain an alcohol concentration of .22 grams of alcohol per 210 liters of breath." The notice also certified that the specimen "was obtained and tested using equipment approved by the Toxicologist under the Post Mortem Examiner's Commission." The notice indicated that the test result would be used at trial
without the presence or testimony of the technician or analyst who performed the test unless the defendant or defense attorney notifies the State's Attorney and the court in writing no later than twenty (20) days before trial that the defendant desires the technician or analyst to be present in court.
White's trial was scheduled for September 13, 1990 in the District Court of Maryland for Worcester County. White's counsel requested the Clerk of the District Court to issue a subpoena to Dr. Yale H. Caplan, the State Toxicologist, to testify at trial in White's behalf. The clerk issued the subpoena on August 1, 1990.
The State moved for a protective order, asking the court to quash the subpoena. The District Court conducted a hearing concerning the State's motion for a protective order and granted the motion on September 6, 1990.
White responded on September 12, 1990 by filing a motion for writ of certiorari in the Circuit Court for Worcester County. The circuit court issued the writ on October 18, 1990.
The circuit court conducted a hearing on November 8, 1990, at the conclusion of which the court denied White's relief. The court's written order, issued December 3, 1990 explained that White
failed to establish sufficient materiality or relevancy for the issuance of a subpoena for Dr. Yale Caplan, Chief Toxicologist for the State of Maryland to appear at Petitioner's trial for Driving While Intoxicated, or that the denial of the issuance of the same by the District Court of Maryland for Worcester County amounts to an unconstitutional deprivation of Petitioner's right to confrontation and compulsory process . . . .
White subsequently appealed the circuit court's decision to this court, arguing that
I. The lower court improperly failed to follow the mandate of section 10-304(d) of the Courts and Judicial Proceedings Article by failing to require the state toxicologist to be present and testify as a witness after a timely request for subpoena had been filed by the appellant.
II. The lower court's refusal to issue a subpoena for the state toxicologist denied appellant his constitutional right to have compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in his favor as secured by the Sixth and Fourteenth Amendments to the United States Constitution and articles 21 and 24 of the Maryland Declaration of Rights.
The Writ of Certiorari
Before we address the important public issues raised by this appeal, we note, as did the State, the appellant's selection of an incorrect metho
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