McFarland v. Wilson

33 S.W.3d 691, 2000 Mo. App. LEXIS 1897, 2000 WL 1846213
CourtMissouri Court of Appeals
DecidedDecember 19, 2000
DocketNo. WD 57980
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 33 S.W.3d 691 (McFarland v. Wilson) 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
McFarland v. Wilson, 33 S.W.3d 691, 2000 Mo. App. LEXIS 1897, 2000 WL 1846213 (Mo. Ct. App. 2000).

Opinion

LAURA DENVIR STITH, Judge.

Respondent Theresa McFarland was arrested for driving while intoxicated and, pursuant to Section 577.041 RSMo Cum. Supp.1998, the Director of Revenue suspended her driving privileges for one year for fading to submit to a breathalyzer test. Ms. McFarland appealed that suspension. At trial, the Director attempted to prove that Ms. McFarland was arrested upon probable cause and failed to submit to a breathalyzer test, despite a procedurally proper request to do so. The trial court entered judgment in favor of Ms. McFarland because it believed that Ms. McFarland was not told the reasons why she was asked to submit to the breathalyzer exam in the manner required by Section 577.041. The Director appeals, arguing that because it is undisputed that the police officers read Ms. McFarland the Missouri Implied Consent Law and in so doing informed her of the legal reasons why they wished her to submit to a breathalyzer exam, they sufficiently notified her of the reasons why she was asked to take a breathalyzer exam. We agree. Because it is uncontested that the Director otherwise made a prima facie case, but that the court granted judgment for Ms. McFarland before she presented her evidence, we reverse the judgment and remand for further proceedings consistent with this opinion.

I. FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

The evidence adduced below, considered in the light most favorable to the judgment, is as follows:

[693]*693On May 11, 1999, the police stopped the car Respondent Theresa McFarland was driving and, after determining that she appeared to be intoxicated, arrested her, brought her to the police station, explained to her the Missouri Implied Consent Law under Section 577.020 and Section 577.041,1 and asked her to submit to a breathalyzer test. She refused to take the test and the Missouri Director of Revenue (the Director) revoked her driving privilege for one year pursuant to Section 577.041.

Ms. McFarland filed a petition for review in the Circuit Court of Jackson County on June 10, 1999. The circuit court held a hearing on Ms. McFarland’s Petition on October 21, 1999. At the hearing, the arresting officer, Mark Fugate, testified that on May 11, 1999, at approximately 1:00 a.m., he was on patrol when he encountered a small pickup truck driven by Ms. McFarland. Officer Fugate noticed Ms. McFarland was driving with no headlights and was swerving on and off the roadway. He stopped her vehicle and asked her to step out. Officer Fugate testified that he noticed Ms. McFarland had difficulty following directions, and that he recognized a moderate odor of alcohol on her breath. He then administered three standard field sobriety tests: the one-legged stand, the walk and turn test, and the horizontal gaze nystagmus test. Officer Fugate testified that Ms. McFarland put her foot down more than three times on the one-legged stand test and that she stated she could not perform the walk and turn test. The officer also testified that when he performed the horizontal gaze nystagmus test on Ms. McFarland, he noticed that her eye movement was not “smooth,” and she “had distinct gaze nys-tagmus before deviation,” which “indicates that there’s a neurological stimulus that has affected [the] neurotransmitters in the brain ... [and] the brain is altered in a degree to where [an individual] may not be able to perform normal tasks.”

Based on his observations, Officer Ful gate was of the opinion that Ms. McFarland was intoxicated to a degree that she could not safely operate a motor vehicle. Officer Fugate placed Ms. McFarland under arrest for suspicion of driving under the influence of alcohol and contacted the police dispatcher. He asked the dispatcher to alert the DUI (Driving Under the Influence) squad that he wanted one of its members to give a breathalyzer test to Ms. McFarland. Officer Fugate then transported Ms. McFarland to the Kansas City Metro Patrol Division, where he met with Officer Larry Bewick, an officer qualified to administer breathalyzer tests.

Officer Bewick testified at the hearing that he was certain that when he came into contact with Ms. McFarland early on the morning of May 11, 1999, he explained all her rights to her under both Miranda2 and under the Missouri’s Implied Consent Law. He stated that he specifically explained to Ms. McFarland that, pursuant to the Implied Consent Law, it is “implied or understood under Missouri law, that upon the request of a police officer for her to take a test to determine her blood alcohol content, that she would take that test. The refusal to take that test would result in revocation of her driver’s license for a period of one year.”

Officer Bewick testified that after twice explaining the Implied Consent Law to Ms. McFarland, he asked her if she understood her rights but, “[s]he stated that she didn’t understand those rights at 2:15 in the morning.” He said he then further discussed the ramifications of refusing to take the breathalyzer test with Ms. McFarland, but Ms. McFarland still refused to take the test. Officer Bewick also testified that he told Ms. McFarland he wanted her to understand that her refusal to take the breathalyzer “would definitely [694]*694result in the revocation of her driver’s license.” He stated that they talked about the consequences “several times.” Officer Fugate also confirmed that Ms. McFarland continued to refuse to take the test.

After both police officers testified at the hearing, the Director rested its case. Ms. McFarland then argued that the Director had failed to establish a prima facie case against her. In support she noted that the relevant statute “specifically provides the arresting officer shall include the reasons of the officer requesting a person to submit to a [breathalyzer] test,” and claimed that “there’s no evidence whatsoever before the Court that that’s been done by either one of these officers.” She maintained that “you can only have one arresting officer ... And there’s no testimony whatsoever ... as to why she was placed under arrest, and the reasons given to her for the test.” (emphasis added).

The Director argued that the statute was satisfied when Officer Bewick read the Implied Consent Law warnings to Ms. McFarland, as those warnings explain the reason for conducting the test. The trial court nonetheless held that the Director had failed to prove all of the elements for revoking an individual’s license for Driving While Intoxicated as set out in Section 577.041.3 Although the court made no specific findings in its order as to what element had not been proved, the other elements of the statute had unequivocally been shown, and the colloquy at trial demonstrates that the only element of a prima facie case which Ms. McFarland claimed had not been shown was whether the officers had adequately informed Ms. McFarland of the reasons why she was asked to take a breathalyzer test.4 Based on this [695]*695perceived failure to meet the requirements of Section 577.041, on October 21,1999, the court set aside the revocation of Ms. McFarland’s license and ordered that her driving privileges be reinstated. The state now appeals.

II. STANDARD OF REVIEW

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Related

Newsham v. Director of Revenue
142 S.W.3d 207 (Missouri Court of Appeals, 2004)
Kinsman v. Director of Revenue
58 S.W.3d 27 (Missouri Court of Appeals, 2001)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
33 S.W.3d 691, 2000 Mo. App. LEXIS 1897, 2000 WL 1846213, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/mcfarland-v-wilson-moctapp-2000.