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Guelker v. Director of Revenue10/10/2000
Appeal From: Circuit Court of St. Louis County, Hon. Robert S. Cohen
Opinion Vote: REVERSED AND REMANDED. R. Dowd, Jr., PJ. and Russell, J., concur.
Opinion:
James H. Guelker (Driver) appeals from the judgment of the Circuit Court sustaining an order of the Director of Revenue suspending his driving privileges. Driver claims he was denied due process in that he did not have a meaningful opportunity to have the merits of his case heard and considered by an Article V judge prior to entry of judgment. We agree. Reversed and remanded.
Factual and Procedural Background
On April 3, 1998, a St. Louis County police officer responded to a report of a single-vehicle accident in south St. Louis County. When he arrived at the scene, the officer saw a van that had struck a sign and lightpost and was lodged up on the curb. The van was in flames. Driver was laying on the ground near the van, injured and bleeding. The officer briefly spoke with Driver. He noticed that Driver's eyes were watery and detected an odor of alcohol on Driver's breath. Due to Driver's injuries, including among others a lacerated forehead and broken femur, Driver was unable to perform field sobriety tests. Shortly after the officer's arrival, Driver was placed on a gurney and transported to St. Anthony's Hospital by EMS personnel. The officer followed in his police car as Driver was transported to the hospital.
Upon his arrival at the hospital, the officer witnessed Driver being treated for his injuries. Driver was at that point heavily medicated, awaiting surgery and unable to talk. Due to his suspicion that Driver had been driving while intoxicated, the officer requested that hospital personnel take a sample of blood from Driver and provide it to him for purposes of determining Driver's blood alcohol content. Driver's consent was not sought due to his medical condition. As the officer watched, a hospital phlebotomist removed two vials of blood from Driver, labeled each with Driver's name and other appropriate identifying information, and gave them to the officer. The officer then took custody of the vials and transported them to the St. Louis County Justice Center for later testing. Prior to leaving the hospital, the officer wrote and issued Driver a citation for Driving While Intoxicated.
On April 27, 1998, a forensic chemist with the St. Louis County Crime Laboratory tested Driver's blood that was contained in one of the vials, and obtained a test result indicating Driver's blood alcohol content was 0.14% (that is, 0.14% grams per 100 milliliters of blood). In accordance with the laboratory's normal procedure at the time, the remainder of Driver's blood was preserved for a week or two after the test, and then discarded. Approximately three months later, Driver's attorney wrote a letter to the Assistant County Counselor to whom Driver's case was initially assigned, requesting that Driver's blood sample be preserved so that he could have an independent expert test done. The blood sample could not be produced since it had previously been discarded.
The Director of Revenue later suspended Driver's driving privileges, pursuant to Section 302.505 RSMo (Cum. Supp. 1999), for driving with a blood alcohol content of at least 0.10%. Driver requested and was granted an administrative hearing pursuant to Section 302.530. After the hearing officer upheld the suspension, Driver filed a petition for a trial de novo with the St. Louis County Circuit Court pursuant to Section 302.535.1. His petition was assigned for hearing to a traffic court commissioner pursuant to Section 479.500.
The hearing was held on April 20, 1999. During the hearing, Driv
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