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Meade v. Commonwealth11/13/2003
SUBMITTED: October 10, 2003
Richard Meade appeals an order of the Court of Common Pleas of Delaware County (trial court) that denied Meade's appeal of a one-year suspension of his operating privileges imposed by the Department of Transportation, Bureau of Driver Licensing (Department), pursuant to Section 1547 of the Vehicle Code (Code), 75 Pa. C.S. § 1547.
The relevant facts are as follows. On January 12, 2002, Meade was stopped by the police after they observed that his vehicle was drifting across the northbound lanes of Route 352 and going into the southbound lanes. Meade responded slowly and acted confused when the police requested his license, registration and insurance information. The police told Meade to get out of the car after he failed to provide the requested information. Meade got out of his car slowly and walked to the rear of the car as requested. The police observed that Meade was swaying and leaning against his car. The police asked Meade to perform a field sobriety test, which Meade attempted to perform but failed. The police also noticed that Meade had a faint to moderate odor of alcohol about him and that his eyes were glassy and bloodshot. The police placed Meade under arrest and requested that he submit to chemical testing, explaining to him the implied consent warnings from the DL-26 form. Meade refused to submit to the test and further refused to sign the DL-26 form.
Thereafter, the Department notified Meade that his operating privilege was suspended and Meade appealed. On January 14, 2003, the trial court held a hearing. In order to prove that his refusal to submit to chemical testing was not knowing and conscious, Meade presented the testimony of Dr. Bruce H. Grossinger, D.O. by way of video deposition. Dr. Grossinger, a neurologist, testified that he ordered an MRI examination which Meade performed on December 23, 2002, approximately one year after Meade's arrest. According to Dr. Grossinger, the MRI test results showed that Meade had suffered multiple mini or silent strokes at some time prior to the test being performed. However, Dr. Grossinger was not sure when these silent strokes had occurred. Dr. Grossinger further testified that based upon his review of Meade's records and the history taken from Meade, he understood that Meade suffered from diabetes and high blood pressure. He noted that Meade told him that he had not taken his diabetes medication for approximately one week prior to January 12, 2002, and that he would become confused and incoherent when he failed to take the medication. Meade also told him that he had consumed two gin and tonics prior to being stopped. Based upon all these factors, Dr. Grossinger rendered the opinion that on January 12, 2002, the combined effects of silent strokes, which he stated resulted in a condition known as encephalopathy, untreated diabetes and high blood pressure led Meade to be confused and incapable of understanding what was occurring, with negligible contribution from the consumption of alcohol in the amounts reported by Meade. Thus, he opined that Meade was not capable of making a knowing and conscious refusal to submit to a chemical test.
On cross-examination, Dr. Grossinger admitted that he could not state that Meade was in fact suffering the effects of encephalopathy on January 12, 2002. He admitted that the records of Meade's primary care physician did not reflect that Meade had suffered a stroke or exhibited stroke like symptoms or confusion. Furthermore, his belief that Meade's blood pressure and blood sugar were elevated was based solely on the history provided by Meade. He reported that Meade's recollection of the entire evening was vague, but he remembered some portions mor
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