ENHANCED DUI PENALTY CONSTITUTIONAL IF DEFENDANT REFUSES BREATH TEST IN ADDITION TO BLOOD TEST
The Superior Court has decided the case of Commonwealth v. Monarch, No. 778 WDA 2016 (June 6, 2017), holding that the enhanced DUI penalties were not unconstitutional as applied where Monarch refused not only the blood test, but also a breath test.
About an hour before noon on a Saturday morning, Donna Peltier, the mother of Samuel Monarch, contacted the Franklin County 911 Emergency Services Center. She informed them that her son was intoxicated and had just driven away from her residence with his eight-year-old daughter. Officers caught up with Monarch inside his residence shortly thereafter and observed that Monarch’s speech was slurred, he reeked of alcohol, and he was unstable while standing. Monarch refused to take sobriety tests and refused breath and blood tests.
After a jury trial, Monarch was convicted of one count of driving under the influence/general impairment (“DUI”) and one count of endangering the welfare of his daughter. The trial court increased the grading of the DUI conviction pursuant to 75 Pa.C.S.A. § 3803(b)(4), which imposes enhanced penalties for defendants convicted of DUI if they refuse a breath or blood test.
Among the issues raised on appeal, Monarch argued that the sentence imposed by the trial court was unconstitutional pursuant to Birchfield v. North Dakota, 136 S.Ct. 2160 (2016).
The Superior Court noted that it was undisputed that Monarch was sentenced pursuant to 75 Pa.C.S.A. § 3803(b)(4), which imposes an enhanced penalty for an individual who refuses blood or breath testing and is subsequently convicted of DUI. In Birchfield, the United States Supreme Court held that enhanced penalties for refusing a blood test were unconstitutional. In contrast, the Birchfield Court held that enhanced penalties for refusing to consent to a breath test did not violate the Constitution.
With that legal framework in mind, the Superior Court concluded that because Monarch refused not only the blood test, but also a breath test, the enhanced penalties in Section 3803(b)(4) were not unconstitutional as applied in his case.
CASE LINK: http://www.pacourts.us/assets/opinions/Superior/out/J-S24011-17o%20-%2010312574317901362.pdf?cb=1
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