State v. Chavez-Majors

454 P.3d 600

STATE of Kansas, Appellee,

v.Kyle Alan CHAVEZ-MAJORS, Appellant.

No. 115,286

Supreme Court of Kansas.

Opinion filed December 20, 2019

Rick Kittel, of Kansas Appellate Defender Office, argued the cause and was on the brief for appellant.

Brett D. Sweeney, assistant county attorney, argued the cause, and Derek Schmidt, attorney general, was with him on the brief for appellee.

The opinion of the court was delivered by Rosen, J.:

Kyle Chavez-Majors was convicted of aggravated battery while driving under the influence of alcohol after the district court denied his motion to suppress evidence obtained from a warrantless blood draw. The Court of Appeals reversed the conviction based on a violation of the right to jury trial but affirmed the district court's denial of the motion to suppress. Chavez-Majors challenges the portion of the panel's decision affirming the denial of the motion to suppress.

FACTS

On May 24, 2014, at approximately 9:22 p.m., Wildlife and Parks Ranger Tyler Burt received a call regarding a motorcycle accident in a parking lot in El Dorado State Park. When Burt arrived, there were 15 to 20 people and numerous alcoholic containers throughout the parking lot. Burt observed a motorcycle on its side and two people who appeared to be injured. Burt first checked on Jenilee Christy. She was sitting up and talking and had lacerations on one of her legs. After asking Christy if she was okay, Burt turned his attention to the other injured individual—Chavez-Majors—who was lying on the ground. Chavez-Majors was nonresponsive and appeared to have suffered a head wound, resulting in blood-soaked hair. Burt leaned close to Chavez-Majors and while checking for signs of breathing smelled a strong odor of alcohol on his breath. After confirming that Chavez-Majors was breathing, Burt remained with him until emergency medical services (EMS) personnel arrived.

When EMS arrived, Burt had them attend to Chavez-Majors and went to speak with Isaiah McElhone, who had witnessed the accident. McElhone told Officer Burt that Chavez-Majors had been driving the motorcycle at a high rate of speed down a road that led into the parking lot when he lost control, fell off the motorcycle, which then slid into Christy in the parking lot.

At some point after EMS arrived, Burt read an implied consent form to the unconscious Chavez-Majors and then directed EMS personnel to draw Chavez-Majors' blood. The blood sample eventually revealed that Chavez-Majors had a blood alcohol level of .14.

Chavez-Majors was charged with aggravated battery while driving under the influence; driving while license canceled, suspended, or revoked; no proof of liability insurance; and illegal registration.

Chavez-Majors moved to suppress the results of the blood test, arguing that the blood draw was an unreasonable search under the Fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution. At a hearing on the motion, Burt testified about the events surrounding the blood draw. He explained that he was familiar with the parking lot where the accident occurred and that it was typically referred to as the "party cove." Burt testified that "a lot of people go there and party and consume alcohol and just ... enjoy the lake." Burt described the parking lot as 150 feet wide by 50 feet deep. He explained that one paved road with a speed limit of 45 leads up to the parking lot, curves to the right, and then dead-ends in the parking lot.

Burt estimated that it took him 10 minutes to arrive on the scene after receiving a call about the accident. There were no other officers at the scene when he arrived. Based on skid marks that he observed on the road, Burt stated that it appeared the motorcycle had been traveling at a high rate of speed when it ran off of the road to the left, traveled a short distance, and then fell on its side and skidded across the parking lot. Burt testified that he believed Chavez-Majors had serious head injuries and was in critical condition. At some point after EMS arrived, Burt learned that Chavez-Majors was going to be transported by ambulance to a hospital in Wichita. He understood that EMS personnel considered Chavez-Majors' injuries too serious for the local hospital.

Burt testified that he requested EMS perform a blood draw because he believed Chavez-Majors had been driving under the influence of alcohol. He based this belief on the accident, Chavez-Majors' high rate of speed, and the strong odor of alcohol coming from Chavez-Majors' breath. On cross-examination, Officer Burt admitted that it is possible for someone with a strong odor of alcohol on his or her breath to be only minimally intoxicated and for someone with very little odor of alcohol on his or her breath to be heavily intoxicated. He also confirmed that many traffic accidents do not involve alcohol.

On direct examination, the State asked Burt if he had access to "iPads or any other electronic device" that he could have used to "contact a local judge to obtain a warrant with." Burt said he did not. He also confirmed that he did not have a DUI template or something that was "already worked up for a situation like this." Although Burt had been a park ranger for five years, he agreed that neither he nor anyone else in his department had "done anything like that before." Burt estimated that, given all of his other responsibilities that night, it would have taken him an hour and a half to two hours to "write up a warrant." Burt further testified that he was the only law enforcement officer present on the scene until about 15 to 20 minutes after he had arrived. The other officers arrived after Burt had requested that EMS draw Chavez-Majors' blood. On that evening, there had been only one other officer patrolling the park, and he had been attending to a different call at the time Burt responded to the accident.

Burt confirmed that, "[a]s a park ranger," he was "a law enforcement officer in every other way" and had completed "the training program at the academy" where he was taught how to obtain warrants. Burt testified that, although his office did not routinely obtain warrants, it would have been possible to seek assistance from law enforcement officers at the El Dorado Police Department in doing so. Burt acknowledged that he made no attempt to seek assistance in obtaining a warrant, did not contact a supervisor about obtaining a warrant, and did not consider the possibility that he might have needed a warrant. Burt stated that he had no reason for not obtaining a warrant; he just did not do so. On re-direct, Burt testified that he understood he had to draw blood from Chavez-Majors within three hours of the accident to obtain "valid" results. He went on to state that it would have been possible to get a warrant within three hours of the accident but he could not be "100 percent sure" he would have been able do to so.

McElhone also testified at the hearing. He stated that he had been with Christy and two of their friends in the parking lot on the evening of the accident. He did not know Chavez-Majors but had seen him in the parking lot that evening and observed him pick up a beer a few times. McElhone testified that he watched Chavez-Majors drive his motorcycle at a high rate of speed—25 to 30 miles per hour—down the road towards the parking lot and asked someone if Chavez-Majors should have been driving the motorcycle. McElhone was concerned he was intoxicated based on how fast Chavez-Majors was driving. Whoever McElhone questioned replied that Chavez-Majors was "fine." When Chavez-Majors got close to the parking lot, the motorcycle fell to its side, Chavez-Majors fell off of it, and the motorcycle slid through the parking lot. The motorcycle slid past McElhone and into Christy, pinning her underneath a truck. McElhone testified that he believed Chavez-Majors lost control of the motorcycle because he was driving it too fast. He further testified that he had not considered Chavez-Majors too intoxicated to be driving the motorcycle.

The district court denied the motion to suppress after concluding that the warrantless search was reasonable under the probable cause plus exigent circumstances exception to the warrant requirement.

The State agreed to dismiss all charges except aggravated battery while driving under the influence in exchange for Chavez-Majors' agreement to proceed to a bench trial on stipulated facts. At the bench trial, the court acknowledged this agreement from the bench. The court never informed Chavez-Majors of his right to a jury trial and Chavez-Majors did not explicitly waive that right. Nonetheless, the trial continued. The court confirmed that Chavez-Majors agreed with the stipulated facts and then found Chavez-Majors guilty of aggravated battery while driving under the influence. The court sentenced Chavez-Majors to 57 months in prison.

Chavez-Majors appealed. He argued that his conviction should be reversed because he did not waive his right to a jury trial and because the district court erred in denying his motion to suppress. The Court of Appeals agreed that Chavez-Majors had not knowingly and voluntarily waived his right to a jury trial and reversed and remanded for a new trial or an effective waiver. State v. Chavez-Majors , 54 Kan. App. 2d 543, 552, 402 P.3d 1168 (2017). The Court of Appeals affirmed the district court's decision denying the motion to suppress. Chavez-Majors , 54 Kan. App. 2d at 570, 402 P.3d 1168.

Chavez-Majors petitioned for this court's review of the portion of the Court of Appeals decision affirming the district court's denial of the motion to suppress. The State cross-petitioned for review of the portion of the Court of Appeals opinion holding that Chavez-Majors did not waive his right to jury trial and reversing and remanding the case. We granted Chavez-Majors' petition for review and denied the State's cross-petition for review.

ANALYSIS

Chavez-Majors argues that the warrantless blood draw violated his right to be free from unreasonable...