Endsley v. Director of Revenue

6 S.W.3d 153
CourtMissouri Court of Appeals
DecidedNovember 2, 1999
DocketWD 56653
StatusPublished
Cited by14 cases

This text of 6 S.W.3d 153 (Endsley v. Director of Revenue) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Missouri Court of Appeals primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Endsley v. Director of Revenue, 6 S.W.3d 153 (Mo. Ct. App. 1999).

Opinions

EDWIN H. SMITH, Presiding Judge.

The Director of Revenue (the Director) appeals from the judgment of the circuit court reinstating the driver’s license of the respondent, Brian E. Endsley, after it had been administratively suspended for driving while intoxicated (DWI) pursuant to § 802.505.1

In his sole point on appeal, the Director claims that the trial court erred in reinstating the respondent’s driver’s license because he carried his burden of proof to support the administrative suspension of his license under § 302.505 in that there was sufficient evidence to establish, as required by the statute for suspension, that there was probable cause to arrest the respondent for DWI and that, at the time, his blood alcohol concentration (BAC) was ten-hundredths of one percent or more by weight of alcohol in his blood.

We affirm.

Facts

On February 13, 1998, Officer Michael Bridgeforth, a police officer for the City of Richmond, Missouri, observed the respondent driving fifty miles per hour in a thirty-five mile per hour zone. He pursued the respondent’s vehicle, following it into a parking lot where it stopped, at which time he exited his patrol car and approached the vehicle to issue a speeding citation.

While issuing the citation, the officer smelled alcohol on the respondent’s breath. The respondent admitted that he had drunk two beers. As a result, Officer Bridgeforth administered three field sobriety tests which, in his opinion, the respondent failed. He also administered a portable breath test, which showed that the respondent had a BAC, which was consistent with a charge of DWI. Based on the various test results, the officer arrested the respondent for DWI and transported him to the Richmond police station. At the station, he was given a breath test, which indicated that he had a BAC of .108 of one percent.

Following his arrest, the Director notified the respondent that his driver’s license was suspended pursuant to § 302.505. The respondent filed a petition for administrative review of the suspension, on which a hearing was held on July 16, 1998. After hearing evidence, the hearing officer determined that there was sufficient evidence to establish that the respondent had been arrested upon probable cause to believe he was driving a motor vehicle while intoxicated and that his BAC was in excess of ten-hundredths of one percent. As such, the suspension of the respondent’s driver’s license was sustained.

On August 10, 1998, the respondent filed, pursuant to § 302.535.1, his petition for a trial de novo in the Circuit Court of Ray County. The petition was heard on September 21, 1998, by the Honorable David L. Busch. At the hearing, Officer Bridgeforth was asked about the circumstances of the respondent’s arrest. The officer testified that he stopped the respondent for speeding; that he smelled alcohol on his breath; that he admitted to drinking two beers, and that he failed the three field sobriety tests given. He also testified that he administered two breath tests, a portable one at the scene and one at the station. As to the result of the portable breath test, the officer testified that it was' “consistent with that of a DWI charge,” establishing probable cause to arrest.

When the Director initially offered at trial the result of the breathalyzer test given at the police station through the testimony of the arresting officer, the re[157]*157spondent objected on the basis of insufficient foundation. While arguing the objection, the Director offered the Department of Revenue records as to the driver’s license of the respondent, to which the respondent’s attorney had no objection to the extent it was being offered under the business record exception, but did object on the basis of relevancy and “other objections.” The court admitted the exhibit. Immediately after the exhibit’s admission, counsel for the Director again asked the arresting officer about the test result, drawing another objection from respondent’s counsel and a request for leave to voir dire the witness, which was granted. In his voir dire of the officer, the respondent’s attorney established that the officer had performed and checked every required item on the maintenance report for the BAC Verifier used to administer the test to the respondent, except that he failed to mark the report to indicate that he had checked the simulator temperature. The officer, however, testified that, although he had failed to indicate it on the maintenance report, he had checked the simulator temperature and found it to be accurate. At the conclusion of the respondent’s attorney’s voir dire, the Director’s attorney was allowed to voir dire the officer, during which he testified that he had never completed a maintenance report in which the simulator temperature was not “appropriate.”

The Director’s attorney again asked the officer what the test result was. The respondent’s attorney objected again and was in the process of explaining his objection when he was cut off in mid-sentence by the court’s sustaining of his objection to the admission of the test result. The attorney for the Director then made an offer of proof in which Officer Bridgeforth testified that the breath test at the station indicated a BAC of .108 of one percent. Because the test result was excluded, the trial court sustained the respondent’s petition to reinstate his license.

On September 21, 1998, the trial court entered its judgment reinstating the respondent’s license, finding that the Director had failed to sustain his burden of proof to show that the respondent was arrested upon probable cause to believe that he was driving his motor vehicle while intoxicated and that his BAC was ten-hundredths of one percent or more at the time. As a result, the court ordered the Director to reinstate the respondent’s license and to correct his official driving record to reflect this fact.

This appeal follows.

Standard of Review

Our review of the trial court’s judgment reinstating the license of the respondent, after it had been suspended for DWI, under § 802.505, is the same as in any other judge-tried case and is governed by Murphy v. Carron, 536 S.W.2d 30 (Mo. banc 1976). Duffy v. Director of Revenue, 966 S.W.2d 372, 376 (Mo.App.1998). As such, we must affirm the judgment unless there is no substantial evidence to support it, it is against the weight of the evidence, or it erroneously declares or applies the law. Id.

I.

In his sole point on appeal, the Director claims that the trial court erred in reinstating the respondent’s driver’s license because he carried his burden of proof to support the administrative suspension of the respondent’s license under § 302.505 in that there was sufficient evidence to establish, as required by the statute for suspension, that there was probable cause to arrest him for DWI and that at the time his BAC was ten-hundredths of one percent or more by weight of alcohol in his blood. We disagree.

Section 302.505 authorizes the suspension or revocation of a driver’s license by the Director for DWI and provides, in pertinent part, as follows:

[158]*1581.

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Bluebook (online)
6 S.W.3d 153, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/endsley-v-director-of-revenue-moctapp-1999.