Newport Beach Police Used Force to Get His Blood for Sobriety Test, Witness Says

LOS ANGELES — It took seven police officers--five from Newport Beach and two from Huntington Beach--to hold Steven Bohunis down while blood was drawn for a sobriety test after he was arrested for drunk driving, according to testimony in a federal trial that began Tuesday.

Bohunis was the first witness in a $10 million civil rights suit filed against the Newport Beach Police Department by another man who also says he was forced to submit to a blood test against his will. Bohunis has filed a similar lawsuit.

Both suits allege that Newport Beach police officers used excessive force to obtain blood samples from drunk drivers and that the officers’ actions were condoned by police department officials.

Timothy T. Hammer, a former Orange County resident who now runs a restaurant in Oahu, Hawaii, alleges that he was forced by Newport Beach police officers to submit to a blood test after he was arrested for drunk driving in June, 1985. Hammer alleges that he injured his back when he tried to get away from the officers who were restraining him.

Neither man denied driving under the influence and both were later convicted, Bohunis of reckless driving and Hammer for driving under the influence. The results of the blood tests were not made available and are not at issue in the trial.

Under California law, anyone who is arrested for drunk driving and refuses to take a test to determine the alcohol content in his blood can lose his driver’s license for six months.

In February, 1985, Newport Beach police officers had arrested Bohunis for driving under the influence of alcohol after his car ran off a city street. Bohunis testified Tuesday that he was willing to submit to a Breathalyzer test but was unable to do so because officers had him in a chokehold at the time. Instead, he said, he was handcuffed and taken by officers to Hoag Memorial Hospital Presbyterian in Newport Beach.

There, he said, he successfully resisted the efforts of five police officers holding him down on the floor of the emergency room.

Reckless-Driving Charge

But a nurse finally drew a blood sample from his arm when two Huntington Beach police officers who happened to be in the emergency room assisted. Bohunis, a former Irvine Co. employee who works as a security guard in Los Angeles, said he later pleaded guilty to a charge of reckless driving.

Charles R. Gross, Newport Beach police chief at the time of the incidents, took the stand to deny that any of his officers used excessive force to obtain the blood samples.

“The policy of the department was not to use excessive force,” said Gross, who retired in July, 1986, after serving 10 years as chief.

He said the policy was that “force may be used to take the blood, as long as the force does not shock the conscience.”

Attorney Stephen Yagman, who represents Bohunis and Hammer, repeatedly asked Gross to define what he meant by “shock the conscience,” but Gross declined to elaborate.

Gross said the department relied on blood tests when other types of tests were refused because he believed that blood tests are the “most accurate” means of determining the amount of alcohol in a person’s blood.

Faces Loss of License

In early 1986, based on the results of several California court cases, including the ones involving Bohunis and Hammer, the Newport Beach police department clarified its policies on blood tests, Gross said.

Gross declined to specify how the policy was clarified, but a police department bulletin brought to court by Yagman recommended that officers obtain permission from the supervisor on duty before taking someone to a hospital for a blood test.