Chamberlain v. State

In Chamberlain v. State, 246 Ga. App. 423, 424 (541 SE2d 64) (2000), the Court addressed a situation in which the defendant claimed that she was unable to produce a second breath sample because she had a history of Legionnaire's Disease, a respiratory infection. The Court held that: "The fact that Chamberlain failed or refused to provide a second sample, as requested by the State, did not affect the admissibility of the results of the first sample." Id. at 425. Then, the Court relied upon Chamberlain when deciding whether the trial court correctly denied a motion to suppress the results of the defendant's breath test in a case where the defendant could not produce a second, "sequential" breath sample immediately after the first because she was upset and crying. Davis v. State, 286 Ga. App. 443, 446 (649 SE2d 568) (2007). In ruling that the results were admissible, the Court reasoned that it would make little sense to hold that the results of the first test were inadmissible due to the defendant's inability to immediately give a second breath sample when a complete refusal or failure to take a second test does not affect the admissibility of the results of any prior samples. As we held in Chamberlain, the fact that a defendant "failed or refused to provide a second sample, as requested by the State, did not affect the admissibility of the results of the first sample." Id.