Moses v. State

32 P.3d 1079, 2001 Alas. App. LEXIS 197, 2001 WL 1174282
CourtCourt of Appeals of Alaska
DecidedOctober 5, 2001
DocketA-7708
StatusPublished

This text of 32 P.3d 1079 (Moses v. State) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Alaska primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Moses v. State, 32 P.3d 1079, 2001 Alas. App. LEXIS 197, 2001 WL 1174282 (Ala. Ct. App. 2001).

Opinion

32 P.3d 1079 (2001)

Jonathan MOSES, Appellant,
v.
STATE of Alaska, Appellee.

No. A-7708.

Court of Appeals of Alaska.

October 5, 2001.
Rehearing Denied October 25, 2001.

Robert John, Fairbanks, for Appellant.

Alicia D. Porter, Assistant District Attorney, Harry Davis, District Attorney, Fairbanks, *1080 and Bruce M. Botelho, Attorney General, Juneau, for Appellee.

Before COATS, Chief Judge, and MANNHEIMER and STEWART, Judges.

OPINION

COATS, Chief Judge.

Following a jury trial, Jonathan Moses was convicted for driving while intoxicated (DWI) and refusing to submit to a chemical test (refusal).[1] On appeal, Moses contends that District Court Judge Jane F. Kauvar erred when she found that Moses was provided the right to make a telephone call prior to deciding whether to submit to a breath test, that an administrative decision at Moses's license revocation hearing did not collaterally estop the state from proving that Moses was provided the right to make a telephone call, that the state troopers were not required to videotape Moses's refusal to take the breath test, and that Moses validly waived his right to an independent chemical test. For the reasons below, we affirm Moses's convictions.

Facts and Proceedings

On May 15, 1999, at approximately three in the morning, Alaska State Trooper Patrick S. Johnson stopped a vehicle that was repeatedly leaving its lane of travel and crossing the right fog line on Chena Hot Springs Road near Fairbanks. Johnson contacted the driver, Moses, to determine whether he was driving while intoxicated. Upon contact, Johnson smelled a strong odor of alcohol coming from Moses's breath and person, and saw that Moses had bloodshot, watery eyes, slurred speech, and a swaying stance.

Johnson had Moses perform some field sobriety tests. Moses failed the horizontal gaze nystagmus test, only partially completed the walk-and-turn and the one-leg-stand tests, and refused to do any other tests. Moses submitted to a portable breath test, and his breath alcohol content was .190 percent. Johnson also found alcohol in Moses's vehicle, and Moses admitted that he had consumed alcohol that evening.

After arresting Moses for DWI, Johnson allowed Moses to call his wife from the scene of the traffic stop. The call lasted approximately one minute. Johnson then transported Moses to the station for an Intoximeter test.

After they arrived at the station, Moses again asked to make a phone call. Johnson asked if Moses wanted to call his wife or a public defender, and Moses said that he wanted to call his wife. During this conversation, Johnson inquired whether Moses was going to have his wife call a public defender. While the transcript indicates that Moses's response is "indiscernible," the record as a whole shows that Moses indicated that he wanted to call his wife to discuss arranging bail. Moses gave no indication at the station that he wanted his wife to call an attorney.

When they returned to the Intoximeter, Johnson asked Moses if he wanted to call a public defender. Moses said no, and the DWI processing proceeded. When the Intoximeter 3000 was ready, Moses refused to provide a breath sample. The DWI processing at the station, including the refusal, was audiotaped but was not videotaped. After Moses refused, he was advised of his right to an independent chemical test. He signed the notice of this right, indicating that he did not want the independent test.

Subsequently, Moses moved to suppress the evidence. Among other things, Moses argued that Johnson, by not allowing him a second call to his wife while at the station, had violated AS 12.25.150(b) and Zsupnik v. State.[2] He also argued that a Division of Motor Vehicles (DMV) hearing officer's decision rescinding Moses's license revocation because of Johnson's failure to allow this call collaterally estopped the state from asserting that Johnson had complied with AS 12.25.150(b). Finally, Moses sought suppression on the grounds that the refusal was not videotaped, and that his waiver of the independent test was not valid.

Following an evidentiary hearing, Judge Kauvar found that Johnson had complied with AS 12.25.150(b) when he allowed Moses *1081 to telephone Moses's wife while still in the field. Although Judge Kauvar ruled that a second call was not required upon Moses's arrival at the police station, she also found that Johnson had offered Moses the opportunity to contact an attorney at the station. Judge Kauvar also ruled that the state was not collaterally estopped by the decision at the license revocation hearing, that Moses's refusal did not have to be videotaped, and that Moses's waiver of the independent test was valid.

After a jury trial, Moses was convicted of DWI and refusal. This appeal follows.

Did the police comply with AS 12.25.150(b) and Zsupnik?

Moses first contends that Johnson violated AS 12.25.150(b)[3] and Zsupnik because he did not allow Moses to call his wife at the police station. Relying on Wardlow v. State,[4] Moses argues that AS 12.25.150(b) is not triggered until a DWI arrestee is transported to a police station for DWI processing, and that any prior contact cannot satisfy AS 12.25.150(b). Moses, however, misapplies our decision in Wardlow. While we concluded that "an arrestee's statutory right to `immediate' communication with attorneys, relatives, and friends normally does not attach until the arrestee is brought to a place of detention,"[5] we did not hold that a communication—whether in person or by telephone— completed after an arrest but before arrival at a place of detention could not satisfy AS 12.25.150(b).

In this case, Moses was allowed to contact his wife immediately after his arrest, while still in the field. Moses was able to tell his wife that he had been stopped, the location of the stop, that he had been or was being arrested for DWI, that he was being transported to a police station, and that she would have to retrieve their vehicle. According to the testimony of Moses and his wife, Moses also was able to discuss a considerable number of details about the stop—Moses told his wife that he thought Johnson was tailgating, that Moses had moved to the right onto the shoulder of the road in an effort to have Johnson pass him, and that when Moses finally pulled onto an adjacent bike path, Johnson stopped behind him and then turned on his vehicle's emergency lights. Additionally, Johnson testified that he heard Moses and his wife discuss bail. And while Moses claims that the call lasted no more than one minute, Johnson said he allowed Moses as much time as he needed.

Although Moses also argues that the phone call was not completed because of a bad connection, the record does not support this argument. Moses relies on Johnson's testimony that he thought that Moses might have had a bad connection, or that Moses was having trouble with the phone. But Moses and his wife did not testify that there was a bad connection or that other technical problems had interfered with their conversation.

We find that the record supports Judge Kauvar's findings that Moses, after his arrest for DWI and prior to taking the breath test, had an opportunity to make a phone call to his wife. Accordingly, we conclude that there was no violation of AS 12.25.150(b) or Zsupnik.

In addition, Moses—by asserting that he wanted his wife to call an attorney— suggests there was a violation of Copelin v. State.[6]Copelin

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Related

State v. Williams
855 P.2d 1337 (Court of Appeals of Alaska, 1993)
Suiter v. State
785 P.2d 28 (Court of Appeals of Alaska, 1989)
Zsupnik v. State
789 P.2d 357 (Alaska Supreme Court, 1990)
Swanson v. City & Borough of Juneau
784 P.2d 678 (Court of Appeals of Alaska, 1989)
Copelin v. State
659 P.2d 1206 (Alaska Supreme Court, 1983)
Crim v. Municipality of Anchorage
903 P.2d 586 (Court of Appeals of Alaska, 1995)
Wardlow v. State
2 P.3d 1238 (Court of Appeals of Alaska, 2000)
Snook v. Bowers
12 P.3d 771 (Alaska Supreme Court, 2000)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
32 P.3d 1079, 2001 Alas. App. LEXIS 197, 2001 WL 1174282, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/moses-v-state-alaskactapp-2001.