Lewis v. State

831 So. 2d 553, 2002 WL 31656642
Court of Appeals of Mississippi·Decided November 26, 2002·No. 2001-KA-01050-COA·Published·Cited by 5 cases

Opinion

831 So.2d 553 (2002)

Norman Arnell LEWIS, Appellant,
v.
STATE of Mississippi, Appellee.

No. 2001-KA-01050-COA.

Court of Appeals of Mississippi.

November 26, 2002.

*555 Glenn F. Rishel, attorney for appellant.

Office of the Attorney General by Charles W. Maris, attorney for appellee.

Before SOUTHWICK, P.J., THOMAS and CHANDLER, JJ.

SOUTHWICK, P.J., for the court.

¶ 1. Norman Arnell Lewis was found guilty of felony driving under the influence by a circuit court jury. Lewis argues on appeal that he was subjected to double jeopardy, that certain jury instructions misstated the law, that a circumstantial evidence jury instruction should have been given, and that documentary evidence of a prior driving under the influence conviction was improperly admitted. We find reversible error in an instruction that defined what it meant to operate a motor vehicle. We reverse and remand.

FACTS

¶ 2. Some time after 10:00 p.m. on March 19, 2000, Gulfport police officer Steven Johnson came upon a Jeep Wrangler parked in the left lane of the east-bound lane of Highway 90. Officer Johnson approached the Jeep in his marked police vehicle and asked if assistance was required. Norman Lewis called back that he was out of gas. Officer Johnson instructed Lewis to place the Jeep in neutral so it could be pushed from the lane of traffic.

¶ 3. When he was unable to move the vehicle, Officer Johnson walked up to the driver's side of the Jeep. Johnson detected a strong odor of alcohol on Lewis's breath, who was seated in the driver's seat. The keys were in the ignition but the engine was not running. No one else was in the vehicle. Lewis also appeared glassy-eyed and slurred his speech. Johnson requested that Lewis step out of the vehicle. Lewis complied, and Johnson performed a field sobriety test. Based upon this test, Lewis was arrested for driving under the influence. Lewis identified himself to the officer as Cedrick Lewis, his twin brother. The Jeep was impounded. During an inventory of the contents of the Jeep, Norman Lewis's wallet and identification were found in the vehicle.

¶ 4. A search warrant was issued to obtain a blood sample from Lewis to determine his blood alcohol content. The results indicated a blood alcohol level of 0.30. At trial, Lewis claimed his friend, Willie Brooks, had been driving but left the vehicle to find more gasoline, leaving Lewis *556 alone in the vehicle. After conviction by a jury, Lewis appeals.

DISCUSSION

1. Double Jeopardy

¶ 5. It is unlawful for any person to operate a vehicle who "(a) is under the influence of intoxicating alcohol; ... or (c) has ten one-hundredths percent ... in the person's blood based upon grams of alcohol per one hundred milliliters of blood." Miss.Code Ann. § 63-11-30(1) (Supp.2001).

¶ 6. Both subsections (a) and (c) were explained in jury instructions, with the explanation that Lewis could be convicted if he had violated either of them beyond a reasonable doubt. Lewis argues that under the "same elements" test, subsections (a) and (c) are identical crimes and he was therefore subjected to unconstitutional double jeopardy by being simultaneously tried twice for the same crime. He further argues that he was prejudiced by having to guess which charge to defend.

¶ 7. This issue has been directly addressed by the supreme court in Young v. City of Brookhaven, 693 So.2d 1355 (Miss. 1997). The court held that subsections (a) and (c) are not separate offenses but rather alternative routes to establishing a violation of the single statute. Presenting both to the jury is not error. Id at 1358.

¶ 8. Lewis was convicted for a violation of Mississippi Code section 63-11-30. He received but a single sentence for that conviction. The fact that the State may establish a violation of this statute in a variety of ways does not constitute double jeopardy.

2. Jury instruction defining "operate"

¶ 9. Lewis argues that a jury instruction incorrectly defined the word "operate." The statute makes it "unlawful for any person to drive or otherwise operate a vehicle" while under the influence of alcohol or other substance. One instruction informed the jury that guilt should be found if Lewis "did unlawfully, wilfully, and feloniously drive and/or operate a motor vehicle" while having an alcohol concentration of at least .10 % in his blood. An instruction defined "operate."

[No. 4A] The term "operate" as used in other instructions of the Court is not limited to the actual driving of a motor vehicle, and a person can operate a vehicle within the meaning of the law without actually driving if he is behind the wheel of the motor vehicle and in full control of the motor vehicle.

The instruction closed by saying that this was a fact question for jurors, which they could answer by using any of the evidence presented in the case.

¶ 10. One defect that Lewis asserts arises from a precedent on which he relies. Jones v. State, 461 So.2d 686 (Miss.1984). There the Court gave this explanation:

A person who is sitting behind the steering wheel of an automobile, in full control of the automobile, where the engine is running and the vehicle is situated on a public roadway, albeit not under way at the time, is "operating" the motor vehicle within the meaning and contemplation of Section 63-11-30(1)(c).

Jones, 461 So.2d at 695. The evidence against Lewis was that the engine of his vehicle was never on after the time that he was discovered by police. However, Jones was addressing the argument that the defendant there should have been acquitted because he was only sitting behind the wheel of a stopped car with the motor running, and no one could testify to having seen the vehicle move while he was in his intoxicated state. We find that the Court was only describing the facts of the case *557 and holding that they constituted "operating" the vehicle.

¶ 11. What we find required by the statute is that the vehicle at least be capable of being moved by the defendant, whether the accused was then in the act of causing it to move or not. Both the accused and the vehicle must have a present ability to cause the hazards against which this statute attempts to protect. That hazard is a moving vehicle with an intoxicated person in control. In one older case that we find still to be a reasonable interpretation, guilt was shown when an accused caused a motor vehicle, which was temporarily inoperable because its engine was flooded, roll down a driveway to a public highway. Farley v. State, 251 Miss. 497, 170 So.2d 625, 626 (1965). The dangers inherent in allowing gravity to cause the vehicle to move are just as great if shorter-term as when the motor is running, the vehicle is in gear, and the defendant's foot is on the gas pedal.

¶ 12. The officer who discovered Lewis testified that during the entire episode of initial questioning at the vehicle through administering of the various sobriety tests, and finally his being processed at the police station, Lewis did not mention that someone else had been driving. The fact that an intoxicated Lewis was found behind the wheel of this vehicle, with no one else present nor even mentioned, would have

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Lewis v. State, 831 So. 2d 553, 2002 WL 31656642 (Mich. Ct. App. 2002).

831 So. 2d 553 (Lewis v. State) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

Related

Rucker v. Marshall
119 F.4th 395 (Fifth Circuit, 2024)
David Camp Pittman v. City of Starkville, Mississippi
151 So. 3d 1055 (Court of Appeals of Mississippi, 2014)
Travis v. State
972 So. 2d 674 (Court of Appeals of Mississippi, 2007)
Turner v. State
910 So. 2d 598 (Court of Appeals of Mississippi, 2005)
Holloway v. State
860 So. 2d 1244 (Court of Appeals of Mississippi, 2003)