STATE of New Mexico, Plaintiff--Appellant, v. RANDY J., Child-Appellee.
No. 29,791
Court of Appeals of New Mexico
July 25, 2011
Certiorari Denied, Sept. 16, 2011, No. 33,170.
2011-NMCA-105 | 265 P.3d 734
CONCLUSION
{49} We reverse the district court‘s denial of Defendants’ motion to dismiss and compel arbitration. We hold that Ms. Chapman had actual authority, which was not limited by Ms. Barron, and also had apparent authority to complete the admission paperwork; that the arbitration clause did not need separate consideration from the overall Admission Agreement; and that the circumstances surrounding the formation of the agreement do not render the agreement void for procedural unconscionability. On remand to the district court for entry of the appropriate order with respect to arbitration, the court should address the issue of whether the arbitration clause in the Resolution of Legal Disputes form has been rendered unenforceable due to the unavailability of the NAF.
{50} IT IS SO ORDERED.
WE CONCUR: CYNTHIA A. FRY and MICHAEL E. VIGIL, Judges.
Jacqueline L. Cooper, Acting Chief Public Defender, J.K. Theodosia Johnson, Santa Fe, NM, for Appellee.
OPINION
GARCIA, Judge.
{1} Whenever children are subject to an investigatory detention, they must be advised of their right to remain silent and advised that anything they say can be used against them. If a child is not advised of his or her rights, “any statement or confession” by the child is inadmissible in court pursuant to
FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY
{2} On March 25, 2009, Officer Joseph Schake observed a vehicle fail to stop at a stop sign. Officer Schake stopped the vehicle and made contact with the driver, Child, who identified himself. Officer Schake detected the strong odor of what he knew based on his training and experience to be “burnt marijuana” coming from the vehicle. At that point, Officer Schake asked Child to exit the vehicle and accompany him to the back of the vehicle. While Officer Schake and Child were near the back of the vehicle, Officer Schake smelled “burnt marijuana” on Child‘s person. Officer Schake then conducted an investigation for a possible DUI.
{3} Officer Schake had Child perform three field sobriety tests: a horizontal gaze nystagmus tests (HGN), a walk-and-turn test, and a one-leg-stand test. During the HGN test, Officer Schake observed that Child had bloodshot, watery eyes and “slowed” facial expressions that were consistent with a subject who was on a depressant. During the walk-and-turn test, Child used very methodical and slow steps, swayed from side-to-side, stopped during the test, and held his arms up more than six inches for balance. During the one-leg-stand test, Child “hopped,” held his arms up more than six inches for balance, swayed from side to side, did not keep his toe pointed, did not stare at his toe the entire time as instructed, and skipped a number while counting. Based on these observations, Officer Schake concluded that Child was “under the influence” and arrested him.
{4} Officer Schake transported Child to San Juan Regional Medical Center and read him the Implied Consent Act,
{5} Child was sixteen years old at the time of the incident. On March 27, 2009, the State filed a petition alleging that Child was a delinquent child based upon the following: (1) driving while under the influence of alcohol or drugs, or in the alternative, driving while under the influence of any drug to a degree that rendered Child incapable of safe
{6} Child filed a motion to suppress any statements or admissions he made to Officer Schake during the traffic stop, as well as any evidence obtained pursuant to those statements. Child relied on State v. Javier M., 2001-NMSC-030, 131 N.M. 1, 33 P.3d 1, to argue that any statement or confession must be suppressed because Child was not advised of his constitutional rights as required by
{7} At the hearing on the motion to suppress, Child argued that the fruits of the
{8} The district court ordered “that no statement or confession, including Child‘s admission to smoking marijuana, consent to conduct field sobriety testing and drug analysis testing, and any results of field sobriety testing and drug analysis testing, may be introduced at trial or hearing.” The court further dismissed the allegation in Count I of driving under the influence of intoxicating liquor or drugs for lack of evidence. The State appealed.
DISCUSSION
{9} On appeal, the State argues that Child‘s performance on the field sobriety tests, the results of the blood test, and any consent by Child to submit to the blood test do not constitute statements or confessions under
Standard of Review
{10} In reviewing an order of suppression, we defer to the district court‘s findings of fact that are supported by substantial evidence, and we review the district court‘s application of the law to the facts de novo.
Section 32A-2-14(D) Provides That the Remedy for a Violation of Section 32A-2-14(C) Is Suppression of a Child‘s Statements or Confessions
{11} “Our primary goal when interpreting statutory language is to give effect to the intent of the [L]egislature.” State v. Torres, 2006-NMCA-106, ¶ 8, 140 N.M. 230, 141 P.3d 1284. “The text of a statute ... is the primary, essential source of its meaning.”
{12} In pertinent part,
C. No person subject to the provisions of the Delinquency Act who is alleged or suspected of being a delinquent child shall be interrogated or questioned without first advising the child of the child‘s constitutional rights and securing a knowing, intelligent[,] and voluntary waiver.
D. Before any statement or confession may be introduced at a trial or hearing when a child is alleged to be a delinquent child, the state shall prove that the statement or confession offered in evidence was elicited only after a knowing, intelligent[,] and voluntary waiver of the child‘s constitutional rights was obtained.
(Emphasis added.)
{13} The protections of
{14} The State asserts that whether evidence constitutes a “statement or confession” under
Child‘s Responses During the Field Sobriety Tests Do Not Constitute Statements Under Section 32A-2-14(D)
{15} We first consider whether the district court erred in determining that Child‘s responses during the field sobriety tests were statements that must be suppressed pursuant to
{16} Under the Fifth Amendment, “the privilege against self-incrimination only protects the accused from being compelled to provide the state with evidence of a testimonial or communicative nature and does not protect a suspect from being compelled by the state to produce real or physical evidence.” City of Rio Rancho v. Mazzei, 2010-NMCA-054, ¶ 26, 148 N.M. 553, 239 P.3d 149 (internal quotation marks and citation omitted), cert. denied, 2010-NMCERT-005, 148 N.M. 575, 240 P.3d 1049. Accordingly, physical evidence, such as blood, breath, and fingerprints, is excluded from the scope of the protection against self-incrimination. Mazzei, 2010-NMCA-054, ¶ 25. Relying on Pennsylvania v. Muniz, 496 U.S. 582, 592 (1990), this Court has also concluded that “[a] person‘s responses to a field sobriety test are, at least for the most part, not testimonial.” State v. Wright, 116 N.M. 832, 835, 867 P.2d 1214, 1217 (Ct.App.1993). This appeal requires us to examine under what circumstances a person‘s responses during a field sobriety test are testimonial.
{17} In Muniz, the Supreme Court held that the defendant‘s slurred speech and lack of muscular coordination during the HGN, walk-and-turn, and one-leg-stand field sobriety tests were not testimonial. 496 U.S. at 585-86, 591-92. The Court reasoned that the privilege against self-incrimination “is a bar against compelling communications or testimony, but that compulsion which makes a suspect or accused the source of real or physical evidence does not violate it.” Id. at 591 (internal quotation marks and citation omitted). In contrast, the Court held that the defendant‘s response to a question regarding whether he remembered the date of his sixth birthday was testimonial. Id. at 598-99. Testimonial evidence “encompass[es] all responses to questions that, if asked of a sworn suspect during a criminal trial, could place the suspect in the cruel trilemma [of self-accusation, perjury, or contempt].” Id. at 596-97 (internal quotation marks omitted). Because the defendant could not remember or calculate the date of his sixth birthday, he was confronted with the choice of incriminating himself by admitting that he did not know the date or answering untruthfully by answering with a date that he did not believe to be accurate. Id. at 599. As a result, the Court concluded that the defendant‘s response to the sixth-birthday question was testimonial and that suppression was required under the Fifth Amendment. Id. at 599-600. Nonverbal conduct such as Child‘s performance on the tests, however, is testimonial only if the conduct reflects a person‘s communication of his or her thoughts to another, or conveys knowledge of a fact specific to the person asked to perform the tests. See id. at 595 n. 9
{18} Based upon the reasoning in Muniz, we conclude that evidence of Child‘s lack of muscular coordination during the field sobriety tests is not a statement subject to suppression under
{19} We further conclude that Child‘s response to Officer Schake‘s request that he count during the one-leg-stand test is not a statement under
{20} Counting or recitation of the alphabet during a field sobriety test do not relate factual assertions specific to the person being questioned or otherwise require a person to reveal his or her thoughts to another. See Muniz, 496 U.S. at 595 n. 9; Vanhouton, 676 N.E.2d at 466. Unlike remembering and calculating the date of one‘s own sixth birthday, counting or recitation of the alphabet during a field sobriety test “lack inherent communicative value because [they] do not convey knowledge of any fact specific to the person being questioned.” Vanhouton, 676 N.E.2d at 466. Instead, the purpose of counting or recitation of the alphabet during a field sobriety test is to provide evidence of a person‘s physical condition. Super. Ct. of Ariz., 742 P.2d at 289. The Fifth Amendment privilege against self-incrimination “does not protect a suspect from being compelled by the state to produce real or physical evidence.” Mazzei, 2010-NMCA-054, ¶ 26. As a result, we conclude that a response to a request to count during a field sobriety test is not testimonial under the Fifth Amendment. We similarly conclude that Child‘s response to Officer Schake‘s request that he count during the one-leg-stand test does not constitute a statement under
Implied Consent to Submit to a Blood Test Does Not Constitute a Statement Under Section 32A-2-14(D)
{21} We next address whether the district court erred in determining that Child‘s consent to submit to a blood test under the Implied Consent Act constitutes a statement under
{22} Pursuant to the Implied Consent Act,
[a]ny person who operates a motor vehicle within [New Mexico] shall be deemed to have given consent ... to chemical tests of his breath or blood or both ... for the purpose of determining the drug or alcohol content of his blood if [that person is] arrested for any offense arising out of the acts alleged to have been committed while the person was driving a motor vehicle while under the influence of an intoxicating liquor or drug.
{23} We conclude that Child‘s consent pursuant to the Implied Consent Act is not a statement under
{24} Child‘s implied consent to the blood test is not inadmissible pursuant to
The Results of a Blood Test Do Not Constitute Statements Under Section 32A-2-14(D)
{25} Finally, we address whether the district court erred in determining that a blood test is a statement that must be excluded under
{26} In State v. Simpson, 116 N.M. 768, 773, 867 P.2d 1150, 1155 (1993), the defendant argued that the district court erred in admitting the results of his blood-alcohol test because it was obtained without first advising him of his Miranda rights. Our Supreme Court held that blood-alcohol tests are non-testimonial evidence that are not protected by the Fifth Amendment. Id. Consequently, the Court held that the defendant‘s Fifth Amendment rights were not violated when his blood was drawn without his having previously received a Miranda warning and affirmed the admission of the blood test results. Id. at 773-74. We similarly conclude that Child‘s blood test results are not statements under
Whether Article II, Section 15 Provides Greater Protection Than the Fifth Amendment
{27} Child argues that
{28} Child acknowledges that Article II, Section 15 has not previously been interpreted more expansively than the Fifth Amendment privilege against self-incrimination. See State v. Perry, 2009-NMCA-052, ¶¶ 23, 31, 146 N.M. 208, 207 P.3d 1185 (concluding that the defendant failed to demonstrate that Article II, Section 15 provides greater protection than the Fifth Amendment). Child also concedes that he did not preserve his argument that Article II, Section 15 provides broader protection than the Fifth Amendment. “As the appellee, however, [Child] was not strictly required to preserve his arguments[.]” State v. Granville, 2006-NMCA-098, ¶ 12, 140 N.M. 345, 142 P.3d 933. “Under the right for any reason doctrine, we may affirm the district court‘s order on grounds not relied upon by the district court if those grounds do not require us to look beyond the factual allegations that were raised and considered below.” State v. Vargas, 2008-NMSC-019, ¶ 8, 143 N.M. 692, 181 P.3d 684 (internal quotation marks and citation omitted). This Court will not, however, assume the role of the district court and delve into fact-dependent inquiries. Meiboom v. Watson, 2000-NMSC-004, ¶ 20, 128 N.M. 536, 994 P.2d 1154. Similarly, we will not affirm the district court under the right for any reason doctrine if it would result in unfairness to the appellant. State v. Gallegos, 2007-NMSC-007, ¶ 26, 141 N.M. 185, 152 P.3d 828.
{29} Even if we were to assume, without deciding, that Child presented the necessary factual allegations to support his Article II, Section 15 claim below, Child has failed to adequately develop his argument that Article II, Section 15 provides broader protection than the Fifth Amendment. On appeal, this Court must analyze the facts and determine whether Article II, Section 15 affords Child broader protection than the Fifth Amendment. See State v. Leyva, 2011-NMSC-009, ¶ 40 n. 6, 149 N.M. 435, 250 P.3d 861 (clarifying that “[i]f a state constitutional argument has been preserved, the role of the appellate court is to conduct the interstitial analysis if necessary, reviewing the reasons for departure and determining whether departure is warranted under the particular provision“). “[W]e may diverge from federal precedent for three reasons: a flawed federal analysis, structural differences between state and federal government, or distinctive state characteristics.” State v. Ketelson, 2011-NMSC-023, ¶ 10, 150 N.M. 137, 257 P.3d 957 (internal quotation marks and citation omitted).
{30} In the present case, Child failed to analyze any of these reasons for diverging from federal precedent either below or on appeal. Instead, Child asserts that Article II, Section 15 should be interpreted more broadly than the Fifth Amendment because “[r]equiring an individual to consent to a search without warning that the results of that search could be used against the individual is antithetical to the protections of privacy New Mexico prides itself on.” However, Child fails to explain how the protection of privacy relates to the privilege against compelled self-incrimination. See State v. Johnson, 2010-NMSC-016, ¶¶ 14, 18, 148 N.M. 50, 229 P.3d 523 (reasoning that Article II, Section 15 and the Fifth Amendment protect against compelled or coerced self-incrimination). We will not review undeveloped or unclear arguments on appeal. See State v. Gonzales, 2011-NMCA-007, ¶ 19, 149 N.M. 226, 247 P.3d 1111 (stating that “this Court has no duty to review an argument that is not adequately developed“); see also State v. Ortiz, 2009-NMCA-092, ¶ 32, 146 N.M. 873, 215 P.3d 811 (reasoning that “[a] party cannot throw out legal theories without connecting them to any elements and any factual support for the elements” (internal quotation marks and citation omitted)). Accordingly, we conclude that Child has failed to persuade this Court that he should receive greater protection, and we therefore decline to con
Whether Article II, Section 10 Requires Suppression of the Results of the Field Sobriety Tests
{31} Relying again on the right for any reason doctrine, Child argues that this Court must uphold the order of suppression because field sobriety tests constitute a search under
{32} We examine the factual allegations below to determine whether affirmance is merited under the right for any reason doctrine. See Vargas, 2008-NMSC-019, ¶ 8. At the suppression hearing, Child argued that any consent to perform the field sobriety tests was tainted by a violation of Article II, Section 10. Child contended that without his admission to smoking marijuana, which was obtained in violation of
{33} Under
{34} Child does not dispute that the initial stop was lawful based upon his failure to stop at a stop sign. See id. ¶ 55. Furthermore, we conclude that reasonable suspicion supported the expansion of the scope of the stop to investigate a possible DUI even without considering Child‘s admission to smoking marijuana. See id. ¶ 59. When Officer Schake approached the vehicle on the driver‘s side, he detected the strong odor of what he knew to be “burnt marijuana” coming from the vehicle based on his training and experience. Additionally, after Officer Schake asked Child to exit the vehicle and accompany him to the back of the vehicle, Officer Schake smelled “burnt marijuana” on Child‘s person. Officer Schake then began an investigation for a possible DUI, including the field sobriety tests. We conclude that the odor of marijuana emanating from the vehicle combined with the odor of marijuana on Child‘s person provided objective, articulable facts that would lead a reasonable officer to suspect that Child was driving under the influence. See State v. Candelaria, 2011-NMCA-001, ¶¶ 14, 21, 149 N.M. 125, 245 P.3d 69 (reasoning that the odor of marijuana emanating from the vehicle provided reasonable suspicion to continue the detention of the driver of the vehicle); see also State v. Walters, 1997-NMCA-013, ¶¶ 6, 26, 123 N.M. 88, 934 P.2d 282 (reasoning that the odor of alcohol gave the officer reasonable suspicion to investigate whether the defendant was driving under the influence through field sobriety testing). As a result, Officer Schake permissibly expanded the scope of the traffic
CONCLUSION
{35} We hold that Child‘s responses during the field sobriety tests, results of the blood test, and implied consent to the blood test are not statements that are subject to suppression under
{36} IT IS SO ORDERED.
WE CONCUR: JONATHAN B. SUTIN and CYNTHIA A. FRY, Judges.
