State v. Goucher

STATE OF MAINE v. TYLER GOUCHER

No. CR-2017-1224

Superior Court of Maine, Kennebec

October 16, 2018

ORDER ON FENDING MOTIONS

William R. Stokes, Justice

INTRODUCTION

Before the Court are the following motions filed by the Defendant on August 1, 2018: (1) Motion to Suppress (Fruits of Search Warrants); (2) Motion to Suppress (Consent Issue); (3) Motion in Limine to Exclude Medical Records & Blood Sample Obtained from Hospital and; (4) Motion in Limine to Exclude HETL (Health and Environmental Testing Laboratory) Alcohol Testing Results & Testimony of Stephen J. Pierce. An evidentiary hearing on the motions was held on September 26 2018 at which the Court received the testimony of the following witnesses called by the State: Joseph Dobbins; Julie Beaupre; Amanda Murphy; Stephen Pierce; Michele Vining; Deputy Sheriff Adam Bacon, and; Sgt. Frank Hatch. The Court also received the testimony of John Godfrey called by the Defendant. State's Exhibits 1-6 were admitted into evidence. Defendant's Exhibits 2 & 3 were also admitted.^[1] Jury selection in this case is scheduled for November 8 and 9, 2018, with trial set to begin on November 26, 2018.

Based upon the evidence presented at the hearing, and after considering the arguments of the parties, the Court makes the following findings of fact.

FINDINGS OF FACT

Late in the evening of May 12, 2017, a motor vehicle crash occurred in Mount Vernon. The Defendant, Tyler Goucher, was the operator of the vehicle that was involved in the crash. Two passengers were in his vehicle at the time. One of the passengers, Ethan Russell, was seriously injured and law enforcement personnel quickly learned that the crash could potentially involve a fatality.

Kennebec County Deputy Sheriff Adam Bacon was one of the law enforcement officers who responded to the crash scene. He later responded to the Central Maine Medical Center (CMMC) in Lewiston to collect clothing from the Defendant and obtain his consent to take photographs of his injuries. The Defendant was cooperative and gave his consent by scribbling his signature on the consent form.^[2] See State's Exhibit 4.

By the time Deputy Bacon arrived at the crash scene, ambulance personnel and other law enforcement officers were already there. Michele Vining, an advanced EMT with Winthrop Ambulance, was with the first ambulance to arrive and she was assigned to attend to the Defendant. The Defendant was alert talking, breathing, and very concerned about his friends and wanted to know if they were "okay." Once the Defendant was "cleared" for his spinal evaluation he was able to walk to the ambulance on his own power.

While Ms. Vining was assessing and evaluating the Defendant, Sgt. Frank Hatch of the Kennebec County Sheriff's Department was also there for at least part of the time. Sgt. Hatch had activated his digital recorder for some period of the time while he was in the Defendant's presence. That recording was admitted into evidence as State's Exhibit 6. It has a total recoding time of 28:27. The court has listened to the recording twice in its entirety and certain portions of it multiple times.

The Defendant was cooperative, very talkative and told Sgt. Hatch that he was the driver of the vehicle, that he was "ok" to drive, that he and his friends had been at the Weathervane Restaurant, that he had three (3) drinks including two beers and one "Grateful Dead," that he was going 50-55 mph, and that just prior to the crash he felt his truck "kick," for which he "corrected." Later in the recording he volunteered to Sgt. Hatch that had "hit the brakes hard," and the truck "slid out of control" when the brakes locked up.

The Defendant was very concerned about the welfare of his two friends and he firmly, loudly and repeatedly pressed both Ms. Vining and Sgt. Hatch for information about their condition. He specifically asked how the one in the ditch (Richard Hall) and the one in the road (Ethan Russell) were doing. Both Ms. Vining and Sgt. Hatch declined to give the Defendant much information about his friends' well-being, claiming that they did not know any information because they were focusing their attention and efforts on the Defendant.^[3]

At about 7:03 of the recording, Sgt. Hatch asked Ms. Vining: "If I get a blood kit, can you pull that?" Ms. Vining initially responded by asking something to the effect if the kit specified the order of the blood draws because she was not "familiar with drawing blood for stuff like that." At the hearing, she clarified that she had not used a HETL blood kit prior to doing so on May 13, 2017. She agreed to do the blood draw as requested by Sgt. Hatch.

At 8:08 of the recording, Sgt. Hatch can be heard telling other law enforcement officers at the scene: "I need a blood kit." At 9:27 of the recording, Sgt. Hatch and another officer can be heard talking about the expiration date on the kit and confirming that it was still valid until 2018. At approximately 11:00 of the recording, Sgt. Hatch and Ms. Vining can be heard discussing/examining the contents of the kit. At 11:35, Sgt. Hatch said: "Tyler, she's gonna - I'm going to ask her to draw up some blood out of you, okay? Do you have any issues with that?" The Defendant immediately replied: "No."

Over the next several minutes, Ms. Vining and Sgt. Hatch reviewed the directions contained within the blood kit. Ms. Vining drew the required number of samples, labelled them, signed the forms presented to her by Sgt. Hatch and gave the samples to Hatch for re-packaging and sealing. Sgt. Hatch temporarily stored the kit in his locked cruiser. Later, he took the sealed kit to the HETL drop box at the Augusta Police Department. The Defendant was not asked to sign any consent form.

The blood sample taken from the Defendant by Ms. Vining inside the ambulance on May 12, 2017 was received at HETL on May 15, 2017 from the drop box. See State's Exhibit 2. Sgt. Hatch believed that the Defendant had consented to the taking of his blood at the scene. On May 17, 2017, however, counsel for the Defendant sent a letter to Stephen Pierce at HETL (via fax and U.S. Mail) stating that the Defendant "now hereby withdraws consent to any further examination and/or testing of his blood." See Letter attached to Search Warrant Affidavit in Docket # SW-17-0053.

The letter prompted the submission of an application for a search warrant authorizing the examination/testing of the blood sample by HETL. The request was supported by the Affidavit of Sgt. Scott Mills, II, of the Kennebec County Sheriff's Office. He asserted in the affidavit that he was one of the deputies who had responded to the scene of a crash on the North Road in Mount Vernon on May 12, 2017 involving a 2008 Chevy Silverado pick-up truck being operated by the Defendant.

The affidavit further alleged that Ethan Russell was dead at the scene and Richard Hall was "severely injured." Sgt. Mills described the crash scene as involving approximately 300 feet of skid marks showing the truck leaving the road in the opposite lane of travel, rolling over, striking a tree and coming to rest against a telephone pole. The damage to the truck was described as "catastrophic," with the rear axle and the pick-up bed having been separated from the rest of the truck. Debris from the crash was strewn over a considerable area. All three occupants of the truck were ejected. Based on the scene it appeared that speed was a fact in the crash.

An 18-pack of Bud Light beer was found under the truck. The affidavit contained some of the information obtained by Sgt. Hatch from the Defendant on the night of the crash, including: that he was the driver of the vehicle; that he and his two friends had been drinking alcohol at the Weathervane prior to the crash; that the Defendant was the "most sober, so he drove;" that he was speeding trying to catch up with his other friends who had left earlier in another vehicle. Sgt. Mills opined that operating under the influence "appear[ed]" to be factor in the crash.

The affidavit recounted that a blood sample had been drawn from the Defendant at the crash scene under the belief that he had consented to the blood draw, but that his attorney's letter had subsequently been sent to HETL, "professing to withdrawn consent for testing."

Finally, the affidavit averred that the Defendant had been taken to CMMC in Lewiston where both blood and urine samples had been obtained from him. The affidavit recited that an earlier warrant had authorized the State to seize those blood and urine samples from CMMC for testing by HETL.

The warrant was issued on May 17, 2017. (SW-2017-0053) (E. Walker, J.). The blood sample was tested at HETL and a report (certificate) was issued showing a BAC of 0.217%. See State's Exhibit 2. The HETL report for this sample documents a collection time of the sample of 23:01 (11:01 p.m.) on May 12, 2017. Id.

As noted earlier, the Defendant was transported by ambulance to CMMC in Lewiston. Phlebotomist Joseph Dobbins had no independent recollection of names or particular dates, but he did recall the night of this "trauma" incident, and he did recall drawing blood in connection with this matter. He also recalled that he was told to "hold" any samples pending the issuance of a search warrant.

Mr Dobbins testified that it was important for him, and other phlebotomists, to follow specific protocols with respect to the drawing of blood samples in order to prevent cross-contamination and because medical staff depend upon the accuracy and reliability of results for medical treatment purposes. The patient's wrist-band is bar-coded. All labels associated with that patient are also bar-coded and the labels must match the patient's wrist-band. The records created and maintained by the hospital...