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State v. Chase12/12/2001
t been notified of the consequences of refusing. See 29-A M.R.S.A. § 2521(3). On the facts before us, the statute neither provides for any duty to inform of an investigatory purpose, nor for the exclusion of test results for failure to so inform, and we will not infer such a duty or a remedy from these statutory provisions.
B. Constitutional Concerns
The court found that no constitutional violation had occurred in the officer's treatment of Chase at the hospital, and Chase concedes that his motion to suppress was not granted on any constitutional basis. To the extent that Chase continues to argue that constitutional protections should result in the suppression of the test results on these facts, we conclude otherwise. Although a blood test does constitute a search that normally requires a warrant based on probable cause, see Schmerber v. California, 384 U.S. 757, 767, 770 (1966), no Fourth Amendment violation occurred here because the police had probable cause to believe that Chase was operating under the influence, and the exigent circumstance of a depleting blood-alcohol level excepted Chase's case from the requirement of a warrant. Id. at 771; Baker, 502 A.2d at 493. Neither did the withdrawal of blood without Chase's consent violate his Fifth Amendment right of due process, his Fifth Amendment privilege against self-incrimination, or his Sixth Amendment right to counsel. See Schmerber, 384 U.S. at 759-72; State v. Allen, 485 A.2d 953, 956 (Me. 1984). Therefore, the court correctly concluded that no constitutional basis existed to require the suppression of Chase's blood-alcohol test results.
Because no constitutional basis existed for the suppression of the test results and because the informed consent laws protect the defendant from the consequences of an unknowing refusal but not from the admissibility of a reliable test, the court erred in suppressing the results of Chase's blood-alcohol test.
The entry is: The order granting Chase's motion to suppress his blood-alcohol test results is vacated and the matter is remanded to the Superior Court for entry of an order denying Chase's motion to suppress.
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