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State v. Powers5/7/2004
d to recognize that because of his inhibition, defendant could not ask the questions necessary to get the information he needed to make an informed decision. Defendant had a choice. He could submit to the breath test and, if found guilty, have his license suspended for at least ninety days, or he could refuse the test and have his license suspended for twice that time. Because he thought that the police could hear his conversation, defendant felt inhibited; he felt that he could not ask the questions he needed answered to appropriately evaluate his options.
13. We conclude that the perceived monitoring caused defendant to feel inhibited from asking his attorney questions. His inability to get answers to these questions contributed in large part to defendant's decision to refuse the evidentiary breath test. There was, therefore, a sufficient causal nexus between the police violation of defendant's right to a meaningful consultation with an attorney and his refusal to submit to the evidentiary breath test. The district court erred when it denied defendant's motion to suppress the evidence of that refusal. That evidence was central to the State's case in the civil suspension hearing, and so the court further erred in suspending defendant's driver's license.
Reversed.
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