Kiona F. Boutang v. State ( 2013 )


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  •                            Fourth Court of Appeals
    San Antonio, Texas
    DISSENTING OPINION
    No. 04-11-00764-CR
    Kiona F. BOUTANG,
    Appellant
    v.
    The STATE of Texas,
    Appellee
    From County Court at Law No. 9, Bexar County, Texas
    Trial Court No. 314520
    Honorable Walden Shelton, Jr., Judge Presiding
    Dissenting Opinion by: Rebeca C. Martinez, Justice
    Sitting en banc:      Catherine Stone, Chief Justice
    Karen Angelini, Justice
    Sandee Bryan Marion, Justice
    Marialyn Barnard, Justice
    Rebeca C. Martinez, Justice
    Patricia O. Alvarez, Justice
    Luz Elena D. Chapa, Justice
    Delivered and Filed: June 5, 2013
    Respectfully, I dissent from the court’s denial of appellant’s motion for rehearing en banc
    without requesting a response.
    I believe the trial court violated Boutang’s rights under the Confrontation Clauses of the
    United States and Texas Constitutions by overruling her objections to the testimony of the
    State’s expert witness, Deborah Stephens, and to the admission of the breath test results and
    breathalyzer maintenance reports.    U.S. CONST. amend. VI; TEX. CONST. art. I, § 10; see
    Dissenting Opinion                                                                               04-11-00764-CR
    Crawford v. Washington, 
    541 U.S. 36
    , 68 (2004) (in order for testimonial evidence to be
    admissible, Sixth Amendment demands unavailability and prior opportunity for cross-
    examination). In holding that admission of the challenged evidence did not violate Boutang’s
    confrontation rights, the opinion follows the Fort Worth Court of Appeals’s opinion in Settlemire
    v. State, 
    323 S.W.3d 520
    (Tex. App.—Fort Worth 2010, pet. ref’d), with misplaced reliance on a
    footnote that is more dicta than precedent and that precedes the United States Supreme Court’s
    decision in Bullcoming v. New Mexico. 1
    At trial, Stephens was called to testify in place of George Allen McDougall, Jr. who, at
    the time of Boutang’s arrest, was the breath test technical supervisor personally responsible for
    maintaining and operating the Intoxilyzer 5000 machines in Bexar County. Although Stephens
    had no personal knowledge of the evidence proffered through her testimony, the State called her
    to testify even though, as the record reflects, McDougall was not unavailable. As the opinion
    points out, Stephens sponsored the admission of all the inculpatory evidence against Boutang at
    trial. This included State’s Exhibit 10 (breath test slip printed by Officer Charles Marcus who
    administered the test), and State’s Exhibits 11 and 12 (intoxilyzer maintenance records signed
    and verified by McDougall).
    The proponent of scientific or technical evidence has the burden of demonstrating by
    clear and convincing evidence that the evidence is both reliable and relevant. See Kelly v. State,
    
    824 S.W.2d 568
    , 573 (Tex. Crim. App. 1992) (applying several factors that may affect
    reliability, including “the experience and skill of the person who applied the technique on the
    occasion in question”) (emphasis added); see also Daubert v. Merrell Dow Pharmaceuticals,
    Inc., 
    509 U.S. 579
    , 590-92 (1993). Three criteria must be satisfied for scientific evidence to be
    1
    Bullcoming v. New Mexico, 
    131 S. Ct. 2705
    , 2715-16 (2011) (holding it was a violation of defendant’s
    confrontation rights to admit blood alcohol content lab report through testimony of different analyst than the one
    who prepared the report).
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    Dissenting Opinion                                                                                 04-11-00764-CR
    considered reliable: (1) the underlying theory must be valid; (2) the technique applying the
    theory must be valid; and (3) the technique must be properly applied on the occasion in question.
    See 
    Kelly, 824 S.W.2d at 573
    . Kelly applies to all scientific evidence offered under Rule 702,
    including intoxilyzer test results. TEX. R. EVID. 702; see Hartman v. State, 
    946 S.W.2d 60
    , 63
    (Tex. Crim. App. 1997).           Even if the underlying scientific principles of a breath test are
    considered valid as a matter of law, 2 the State must still establish that a qualified officer applied
    a valid technique and that it was correctly applied on the particular occasion in question. See id.;
    Maysonet v. State, 
    91 S.W.3d 365
    , 371 (Tex. App.—Texarkana 2002, pet. ref’d) (testimony from
    officer who conducted stop for speeding violation satisfied second and third Kelly prongs); Mills
    v. State, 
    99 S.W.3d 200
    , 201 (Tex. App.—Fort Worth 2002, pet. ref’d). In this case, whether the
    technique was properly applied on the occasion in question is evidence the State could only
    proffer through McDougall.
    In Harrell v. State, the Court of Criminal Appeals established a three-part predicate for
    the admission of an intoxilyzer test result, requiring the State to: (1) show the machine
    functioned properly on the day of the test as evidenced by the running of a reference sample; (2)
    show the existence of periodic supervision over the machine and its operation by one who
    understands the scientific theory of the machine; and (3) prove the result of the test through a
    witness qualified to translate and interpret the result so as to eliminate hearsay. Harrell v. State,
    
    725 S.W.2d 208
    , 209-10 (Tex. Crim. App. 1986). The court explained that, “[b]ecause the
    reference sample is so important to the intoxilyzer in Texas, a showing of proper use of a
    2
    “The use of breath testing evidence to prove intoxication was first approved by [the Court of Criminal Appeals] in
    the case of McKay v. State, 155 Tex. Cr. R. 416, 
    235 S.W.2d 173
    (1950) and it continues to be admissible evidence
    provided the proper predicate is shown.” Stevenson v. State, 
    895 S.W.2d 694
    , 696 n.3 (Tex. Crim. App. 1995)
    (citing Langford v. State, 
    532 S.W.2d 91
    , 95 (Tex. Crim. App. 1976)); see also Hill v. State, 158 Tex. Cr. R. 313,
    
    256 S.W.2d 93
    (1953).
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    Dissenting Opinion                                                                     04-11-00764-CR
    reference sample satisfies the first prong of the predicate . . . .” 
    Id. at 210
    (modifying the three-
    prong predicate due to the nature of the intoxilyzer instrument).              The court held that
    McDougall’s testimony with respect to his preparation and proper use of the reference sample to
    check the functioning of the intoxilyzer satisfied the first prong of the three-prong predicate for
    admission of the intoxilyzer test results. 
    Id. As the
    opinion points out, in this case McDougall personally created a reference solution
    for use in the machines, periodically changed out the solution in the machines, set the machines
    to anticipate the particular amount of alcohol in the reference solution, and created records to
    reflect the same. However, the opinion then ignores the crucial aspects of McDougall’s direct
    involvement in the maintenance and operation of the machines that require his personal
    knowledge and expertise; instead, the opinion effectively holds that this particular machine, the
    Intoxilyzer 5000, is self-authenticating. To distinguish Bullcoming, the opinion describes the
    breath test slip as a “machine-generated print-out” by the machine that is neither testimonial nor
    necessary to “establish or prove past events for use in criminal prosecution.” Disregarding the
    three-prong predicate established in Harrell, the opinion concludes that a surrogate expert
    certified as an Intoxilyzer operator, but only “familiar with” maintenance procedures, may
    translate and interpret the test results. Absent from the opinion is any consideration of reliability,
    or, at a minimum, recognition of a machine’s inherent need to be inspected which itself suggests
    the possibility of malfunction. Forensic evidence, albeit machine-generated, that is created
    specifically to serve as evidence to prove the guilt of the accused in a criminal proceeding is
    “testimonial.” See Michigan v. Bryant, 
    131 S. Ct. 1143
    , 1156 (2011) (in determining whether
    evidence is “testimonial,” court makes objective inquiry into primary purpose for creation of the
    evidence); Melendez-Diaz v. Massachusetts, 
    557 U.S. 305
    , 311 (2009) (forensic lab report
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    Dissenting Opinion                                                                   04-11-00764-CR
    created and used to prosecute is testimonial); see also Davis v. Washington, 
    547 U.S. 813
    , 822
    (2006) (statements made to establish or prove past events for use in criminal prosecution are
    testimonial). A surrogate witness, no matter how credible, can offer no more reliable testimony
    about irregularities observed or disregarded by McDougall than McDougall himself. Simply
    stating “there is only one type of breathalyzer test,” hence no similar concern of what “particular
    test and testing process” was used (as there is for a blood test), suggests a complete disregard for
    the predicate required of any test conducted on an accused in a DWI prosecution. Do we extend
    this rationale to any of the field sobriety tests?
    The trial court, serving as “gatekeeper,” abused its discretion by allowing the State to
    proffer the surrogate testimony of Stephens, whose knowledge was not sufficiently tied to the
    facts of this case and who therefore could not aid the jury in resolving any factual dispute
    regarding the proper application of a valid technique on the particular occasion in question, i.e.,
    whether a proper reference solution was generated or used to test the machine on the occasion in
    question. In an analogous situation, consider a speed radar gun. If the accused is entitled to
    confront the officer who operated and maintained the radar gun, to examine whether and how the
    officer calibrated and operated the speed radar gun to ensure that it was functioning properly at
    the time the officer obtained the “evidence” of speeding, the State is no less obligated to proffer
    McDougall as “the only witness qualified to interpret the result and qualified to testify about the
    certification of the equipment used to achieve that result.” 
    Harrell, 725 S.W.2d at 210
    .
    In conclusion, while Stephens may have been qualified to understand the scientific
    principles upon which the Intoxilyzer 5000 operated, and was trained on the machine, she could
    not certify the machine or the proper use of the reference sample prepared by McDougall. Her
    interpretation of the test results used against Boutang was based on hearsay. See Bryant, 131
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    Dissenting Opinion                                                                            04-11-00764-CR
    S.Ct. at 1155. Her testimony, in fact, offers merely a “belief” regarding the truth of the matters
    asserted. She cannot convey what the actual analyst knew or observed about the particular test
    or about the testing process he employed. See 
    Bullcoming, 131 S. Ct. at 2715
    ; 
    Melendez-Diaz, 557 U.S. at 315-16
    . Lastly, the breath test slip and maintenance records sponsored by Stephens
    as “custodian of records” for Bexar County, but who neither supervised the officer administering
    the test nor could certify the records signed by McDougall, were improperly admitted as
    “documents prepared in the regular course of equipment maintenance.” “From Hill through
    Harrell, [the Court of Criminal Appeals] has recognized that the rule against hearsay could
    render breath test evidence inadmissible.” 
    Stevenson, 895 S.W.2d at 696
    . While conceding it
    offers merely a suggestion, the opinion in this case adopts Settlemire’s misinterpretation of a
    footnote in Melendez-Diaz, which constitutes mere dicta. 3                The opinion’s reliance on the
    footnote is misplaced.       I believe the trial court violated Boutang’s confrontation rights by
    admitting the testimony of Stephens as a surrogate for McDougall in sponsorship of State’s
    Exhibits 10, 11, and 12.
    I therefore respectfully dissent.
    Rebeca C. Martinez, Justice
    PUBLISH
    3
    See Young v. State, 
    826 S.W.2d 141
    , 144-45 n.5 (Tex. Crim. App. 1991) (Court of Criminal Appeals has declared
    that its footnotes are dicta).
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