Vermont v. Aiken
Annotate this CaseDefendant Paul Aiken appealed a superior court order denying his motion to suppress his refusal to submit to an evidentiary breath test on grounds that he was denied his right to counsel. Defendant admitted to consuming alcohol prior to operating the vehicle, and preliminary breath and field sobriety tests indicated that defendant’s blood-alcohol content was above the legal limit. Defendant was detained and taken to the police barracks for processing. During processing, the sergeant read defendant his rights under Vermont’s implied-consent law. Defendant asked to speak with an attorney, and two on-call public defenders were telephoned. Defendant explained to the sergeant that he had been on hold for ten minutes, the sergeant again attempted to call both public defenders. There was no answer at any of the numbers called for the on-call attorney, and the back-up attorney’s line was busy. The sergeant told defendant that he had ten more minutes and that if neither public defender returned his call he would have to decide whether or not to take the evidentiary breath test regardless of obtaining legal consultation. After the thirty minutes elapsed, the sergeant asked defendant if he would submit to the breath test. Defendant refused to answer, and the sergeant understood this as a refusal to take the test. Defendant was charged with driving under the influence (DUI). Defendant renewed on appeal his argument that Vermont case law holding that the defender general’s office had a statutory obligation to provide twenty-four-hour legal consultation to DUI detainees, and while he was on hold for a public defender, defendant received no substantive advice. "Although the consultation here was brief, an attorney-client relationship was formed," and the Supreme Court believed "that peering behind the veil of that privacy to ascertain the quality of the consultation would open the door to eroding the privacy afforded to detainees in their right to counsel." Because defendant failed to make a decision on whether or not to take the test, the trial court did not err in denying is motion to suppress.
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