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State v. Cluley11/12/2002
ble quantitative determinations and effective administrative practices to protect the safety and welfare of the public." DOH Rules and Regulations, Introduction. The DOH's interpretation of the word "same," we conclude, was reasonable because it adhered to the specifications established by the manufacturer for use of the breath-testing equipment and to the statutory purpose for requiring such testing in the first place. Accord People v. Williams, 49 P.3d 203, 208 (Cal. 2002) ("[a]lthough the [breath-test machine] was not tested with the frequency demanded by the regulations, the machine always performed within the acceptable range, and the slight inaccuracies usually underreported the amount of alcohol present. * * * [Thus, the] trial court properly exercised its discretion in admitting the test results.").
Our analysis of the enabling statute and of DOH's implementing regulation does no violence to the time-honored dictum that courts should construe a penal statute strictly. See, e.g., State v. Capuano, 591 A.2d 35, 37 (R.I. 1991) (stating "[a] penal statute * * * 'must be strictly construed in favor of the party upon whom [the] penalty is to be imposed'"). Strict construction, however, does not mean that courts should adopt irrational interpretations that would thwart or impede the underlying purpose of the statute. State v. Lusi, 625 A.2d 1350, 1353 (R.I. 1993) ("with respect to penal statutes this court will not interpret a statute literally when to do so would lead to an absurd or unreasonable result or would impede a clear legislative intent"); see also State v. Gonsalves, 476 A.2d 108, 111 (R.I. 1984) ("[P]enal statutes are to be strictly construed, [but] they should not be interpreted in a manner that would thwart a clear legislative intent. *** [Thus], we will not attribute to the Legislature a meaningless or absurd result.").
Lastly, Cluley argues that the State improperly relied on an exhibit that was not introduced into evidence before the District Court. He refers to a letter from a representative of the testing equipment's manufacturer concerning the acceptable testing parameters for the equipment in question. In its brief, the state explained that it only had marked this exhibit for identification purposes at the suppression hearing. Because the letter merely corroborated the testimony of DOH's tester, the state's reference to this document has no bearing on the outcome of our review. In any event, the rules of evidence do not apply at suppression hearings. See Rules 101(B)(1) and 104(a)(b) of the Rhode Island Rules of Evidence; State v. Pena-Lora, 710 A.2d 1262, 1264 (R.I. 1998) (holding that the rules of evidence do not apply when a court is deciding upon preliminary questions dealing with the admissibility of evidence under Rule 104, except for questions of privilege).
Conclusion
For these reasons, we grant the petition for certiorari, quash the District Court's suppression order, and remand the file in this case to the District Court for further proceedings consistent with our decision, which we have endorsed hereon.
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