Huffman v. State

243 So. 3d 592
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedFebruary 27, 2018
Docket2017 CA 1215
StatusPublished

This text of 243 So. 3d 592 (Huffman v. State) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Louisiana Court of Appeal primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Huffman v. State, 243 So. 3d 592 (La. Ct. App. 2018).

Opinion

PENZATO, J.

Appellant, Joseph D. Huffman, seeks review of a district court judgment that affirmed the suspension of his driver's license and required him to install an ignition interlock device prior to its reinstatement. For the reasons that follow, we affirm the judgment of the district court.

FACTS AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY

On July 31, 2016, around 2:30 a.m., Louisiana State Trooper William Cook stopped Mr. Huffman for a traffic violation. When Trooper Cook approached the vehicle, he smelled an odor of an alcoholic beverage and observed Mr. Huffman swaying while trying to stand. Trooper Cook became suspicious that Mr. Huffman was impaired, but did not suspect Mr. Huffman to be *594under the influence of drugs. Therefore, he decided to administer field sobriety tests. Mr. Huffman performed poorly on the standardized field sobriety testing and was arrested for driving while intoxicated and transported to the Livingston Parish Jail. Trooper Cook read to Mr. Huffman the applicable portions of the standardized arrestee's rights form, "Rights Relating to the Chemical Test for Intoxication."1 Mr. Huffman refused to sign the form, but submitted to the chemical test for intoxication. The results indicated a .172 grams percent blood alcohol concentration.

Mr. Huffman's driver's license was suspended, and he timely requested, and was granted, an administrative hearing to contest the suspension. Mr. Huffman's suspension was affirmed. He filed suit in the Twenty-First Judicial District Court to challenge the suspension. A de novo hearing on the merits was held on April 3, 2017. The district court heard testimony from witnesses, and evidence was submitted. The district court ordered post-trial memoranda, and took the matter under advisement. On May 5, 2017, the district court issued reasons for judgment, and signed a judgment affirming the 365 day suspension of Mr. Huffman's driving privileges, and requiring Mr. Huffman to install an ignition interlock device in his vehicle prior to reinstatement of his driver's license. From that judgment, Mr. Huffman appeals.

ASSIGNMENTS OF ERROR

Mr. Huffman asserts that the district court erred in finding that (1) even though he was not advised of all of the rights as required by La. R.S. 32:661(C)(1), the test results were admissible, since he was not prejudiced; and (2) the provisions of La. R.S. 32:667(I)(1)(b) were proven by competent evidence to be applicable in this matter, thereby requiring the use of an ignition interlock device at the time of reinstatement.

LAW AND DISCUSSION

On review of the administrative suspension of a driver's license pursuant to the implied consent law, the district court is required to conduct a trial de novo to determine the propriety of the suspension. Such a trial is a civil action amenable to all of the ordinary rules of procedure and proof. Further, the fact that this is an action for judicial review of a decision resulting from an administrative hearing does not change the burden of proof placed by law. Stoltz v. Dept. of Public Safety and Corrections , 2013-1968 (La. App. 1 Cir. 6/25/14), 147 So.3d 1131, 1133.

Louisiana's implied consent statute, La. R.S. 32:661(A)(1), provides, in pertinent part, as follows:

Any person ... who operates a motor vehicle upon the public highways of this state shall be deemed to have given consent ... to a chemical test or tests of his blood, breath, urine, or other bodily substance for the purpose of determining the alcoholic content of his blood, and the presence of any abused substance or controlled dangerous substance ... if arrested for any offense arising out of acts alleged to have been committed while the person was driving ... while believed to be under the influence of alcoholic beverages or any abused substance or controlled dangerous substance ....

Louisiana Revised Statutes 32:661(C) provides as follows with regard to the procedures *595which must be performed before the test is administered:

(1) When a law enforcement officer requests that a person submit to a chemical test as provided for above, he shall first read to the person a standardized form approved by the Department of Public Safety and Corrections. The department is authorized to use such language in the form as it, in its sole discretion, deems proper, provided that the form does inform the person of the following:
(a) His constitutional rights under Miranda v. Arizona.
(b) That his driving privileges can be suspended for refusing to submit to the chemical test.
(c) That his driving privileges can be suspended if he submits to the chemical test and such test results show a blood alcohol level of 0.08 percent or above or, if he is under the age of twenty-one years, a blood alcohol level of 0.02 percent or above.
(d) That his driving privileges can be suspended if he submits to the chemical test and the test results show a positive reading indicating the presence of any controlled dangerous substance listed in R.S. 40:964.
(e) The name and employing agency of all law enforcement officers involved in the stop, detention, investigation, or arrest of the person.
(f) That refusal to submit to a chemical test after an arrest for an offense of driving while intoxicated if he has refused to submit to such test on two previous and separate occasions of any previous such violation is a crime under the provisions of R.S. 14:98.2 and the penalties for such crime are the same as the penalties for first conviction of driving while intoxicated.
(2) In addition, the arresting officer shall, after reading said form, request the arrested person to sign the form. If the person is unable or unwilling to sign, the officer shall certify that the arrestee was advised of the information contained in the form and that the person was unable to sign or refused to sign.

In the instant case, Trooper Cook testified that he did not suspect Mr. Huffman to be under the influence of drugs. There is no dispute that Trooper Cook read to Mr. Huffman the applicable portions of the standardized form approved by the Department of Public Safety and Corrections (DPS). Further, there is no dispute that subsection (d) of La. R.S. 32:661(C)(1) regarding chemical testing for the presence of a controlled dangerous substance is not contained in this form, and therefore was not read to Mr. Huffman. The issue raised in Mr. Huffman's first assignment of error is whether the results of Mr. Huffman's chemical test for intoxication are admissible despite the failure of the standardized form to include La. R.S. 32:661(C)(1)(d) regarding chemical testing for the presence of a controlled dangerous substance.

We find that the omission of subsection (d) from the standardized rights form does not require the exclusion of the results of Mr. Huffman's chemical test for intoxication. In Jones v. State, Dept. of Public Safety , 98-2597 (La. App. 1 Cir. 12/28/99),

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Related

State v. Fortner
478 So. 2d 673 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 1985)
Stoltz v. Department of Public Safety & Corrections
147 So. 3d 1131 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 2014)
Jones v. State, Department of Public Safety
747 So. 2d 774 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 1999)

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Bluebook (online)
243 So. 3d 592, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/huffman-v-state-lactapp-2018.