McCallum v. Commonwealth

In McCallum v. Commonwealth, 140 Pa. Commw. 317, 592 A.2d 820 (Pa. Cmwlth. 1991), the licensee had been involved in a vehicle accident and left the scene. Before leaving the scene, however, he reportedly admitted to two people who had witnessed the accident that he had been drinking. Based on this witness testimony, the arresting officer met up with the licensee approximately 30 to 40 minutes after the accident and observed that the licensee had slurred speech, smelled of alcohol, and appeared glassy-eyed. The Court gave particular significance to the witness testimony that the licensee had admitted drinking that evening and affirmed the trial court's finding that the police officer had reasonable grounds to request that the licensee submit to testing. McCallum, 592 A.2d at 822-23. The Court determined that "the police officer's reasonable grounds will not be rendered void even if the belief is later discovered to be erroneous.... The police officer's belief must only be objective in light of the surrounding circumstances, and 'the existence of reasonable alternative conclusions does not necessarily preclude the arresting officer's actual belief from being reasonable.'" Id., 592 A.2d at 822.