Burris v. Thomas

244 N.C.App. 391

780 S.E.2d 885

Maurice BURRIS, Petitioner,

v.Kelly J. THOMAS, Commissioner of North Carolina Division of Motor Vehicles, Respondent.

No. COA15–312.

Court of Appeals of North Carolina.

Dec. 15, 2015.

Chandler Law PLLC, by Jennifer M. Chandler, Charlotte, for petitioner.

Attorney General Roy Cooper, by Assistant Attorney General Kathryne E. Hathcock, for respondent.

DIETZ, Judge.

Petitioner Maurice Burris was involved in a car accident on 5 March 2013. Emergency personnel removed him from the driver's side of his car and placed him on a stretcher. A law enforcement officer noticed a strong odor of alcohol on Burris's breath. When the officer asked Burris how much he had to drink, Burris responded, "quite a bit." The officer later charged Burris with the implied-consent offense of driving while impaired.

Burris ultimately refused the officer's request to submit to a voluntary blood draw at the hospital after being informed of his implied-consent rights and the consequences of refusing to comply.

The North Carolina Division of Motor Vehicles revoked Burris's driver's license based on his refusal to voluntarily submit to a blood draw, finding that Burris was charged with an implied-consent offense; that the arresting officer had reasonable grounds to believe Burris had committed such an offense; that the officer notified Burris of his rights under N.C. Gen.Stat. § 20–16.2(a) ; and that Burris willfully refused to submit to a chemical analysis. Burris appealed to the trial court and the trial court ordered the DMV to rescind its revocation, holding that, because law enforcement immediately obtained a warrantless, involuntary blood draw after Burris refused to voluntarily submit, Burris's refusal was not "willful."

As explained below, the trial court's reasoning conflicts with this Court's precedent. A willful refusal occurs when a defendant purposefully makes a conscious choice not to submit to a chemical analysis. See Seders v. Powell, 298 N.C. 453, 461, 259 S.E.2d 544, 550 (1979). There is no requirement that, in order to be a "willful refusal," the refusal actually frustrate law enforcement's ability to obtain the chemical analysis. Here, although law enforcement compelled a warrantless, involuntary blood draw shortly after Burris refused to voluntarily submit, the DMV's findings support its conclusion that Burris willfully refused to voluntarily submit to the test.

We also reject Burris's alternative grounds for challenging the DMV's license revocation decision. The DMV's findings are supported by the record and those findings, in turn, support its conclusions of law. Accordingly, we reverse the trial court's order.

Facts and Procedural History

On 5 March 2013, Officer J.R. Ewers received a report of a car accident in Gastonia. When Ewers arrived at the scene, EMS personnel were attending to Petitioner Maurice Burris, who had been placed on a stretcher. EMS personnel informed Ewers that they had removed Burris from the driver's side of his vehicle. Once Ewers began speaking with Burris at the accident scene, he noticed a strong odor of alcohol on Burris's breath, and when Ewers asked Burris how much he had to drink, Burris responded, "quite a bit." Ewers was unable to conduct a field sobriety test because EMS needed to transport Burris to the hospital.

Officer Ewers arrived at the hospital shortly after Burris. While Burris was receiving medical care in an emergency room, Ewers again asked him how much he had to drink that night, and Burris again responded, "quite a bit." Ewers still detected a strong odor of alcohol on Burris's breath.

Based on these observations, Officer Ewers charged Burris with driving while impaired—an implied-consent offense. Ewers then orally advised Burris of his rights under N.C. Gen.Stat. § 20–16.2, a statute stating that any person who drives a vehicle on a public highway consents to chemical analysis if charged with an implied-consent offense. Ewers also held a written copy of these rights close to Burris's face so Burris could read them while he lay in the hospital bed. After Burris told Ewers that he understood these rights, Ewers asked Burris to submit to a blood test. Burris responded that he would not give his blood. Ewers then asked Burris if he was sure, and Burris replied that he did not want to submit to the blood test. Ewers marked Burris's response as a "willful refusal" on the applicable form. Shortly after, Ewers compelled Burris to provide a warrantless blood sample based on his conclusion that Burris would no longer be at the hospital by the time he could return with a warrant.

On 25 March 2013, the North Carolina Division of Motor Vehicles notified Burris that it was revoking his driver's license for willfully refusing to submit to a chemical analysis. Burris contested this revocation at a DMV hearing on 19 March 2014. The DMV upheld the revocation, concluding that all the statutory prerequisites for revocation were met—namely, that Burris was charged with an implied-consent offense; that Officer Ewers had reasonable grounds to believe Burris had committed such an offense; that Burris was notified of his rights under N.C. Gen.Stat. § 20–16.2(a) ; and that Burris willfully refused to submit to a chemical analysis.

Burris appealed the DMV's decision to the trial court, which ordered the DMV to rescind its revocation of Burris's license. The court concluded that the DMV hearing record failed to show that Burris willfully refused to submit to a chemical analysis. It reasoned that Burris "made a decision to refuse the ‘request’ for a blood draw, weighing the possible consequences as advised by the officer, but without the additional relevant consideration that his blood draw could be compelled without his consent." The court then reasoned that "[h]ad [Burris] been furnished with this additional information, there is a strong likelihood that he would have made a different decision. The ‘choice’ offered by the officer in this case was illusory." DMV timely appealed the trial court's order.

Analysis

I. DMV's Challenge to the Trial Court Decision

On appeal, DMV argues that the trial court erred because the DMV's findings of fact support its conclusion that Burris willfully refused to submit to a chemical analysis. As explained below, we agree and therefore reverse the trial court's order.

"[O]n appeal from a DMV hearing, the superior court sits as an appellate court, and no longer sits as the trier of fact. Accordingly, our review of the decision of the superior court is to be conducted as in other cases where the superior court sits as an appellate court. Under this standard we conduct the following inquiry: (1) determining whether the court exercised the appropriate scope of review and, if appropriate, (2) deciding whether the court did so properly." Johnson v. Robertson, 227 N.C.App. 281, 286–87, 742 S.E.2d 603, 607 (2013) (quotations omitted).

A superior court's review of a DMV license revocation decision is "limited to whether there is sufficient evidence in the record to support the [DMV's] findings of fact and whether the conclusions of law are supported by the findings of fact and whether the [DMV] committed an error of law in revoking the license." N.C. Gen.Stat. § 20–16.2(e).

Here, the trial court ordered DMV to rescind its revocation on the grounds that Burris did not willfully refuse to submit to a chemical analysis. Specifically, the trial court held that "the record fails to support the Petitioner willfully refused since Petitioner was unaware he had a choice to take or refuse the test." The court further explained that "Petitioner was read his rights under N.C.G.S. 20–16.2 and refused; however, blood was compelled immediately after the refusal. Therefore, there is a strong likelihood that Petitioner did not understand his rights with regard to the reality that he did not have a choice not to take the test."

The trial court's reasoning is erroneous. As the trial court acknowledged, the DMV found that Ewers read Burris his rights under the implied-consent laws, including his right to refuse to submit to a chemical analysis. The DMV also found that, after being informed of these rights, Burris refused to voluntarily submit to a blood draw. These findings are supported by the record. At the revocation hearing, Ewers testified that he read Burris his implied-consent rights and held a form listing these rights near Burris's face so Burris could read them. Ewers also testified that Burris told him that he understood these rights, then refused to submit to a blood test when asked.

The trial court rejected the DMV's finding of willful refusal not...