Palmer v. City of Oxford

860 So. 2d 1203, 2003 WL 22861901
Mississippi Supreme Court·Decided December 4, 2003·No. 2002-KM-00848-SCT·Published·Cited by 8 cases

Opinion

860 So.2d 1203 (2003)

Lee Madison PALMER, Jr.
v.
CITY OF OXFORD, Mississippi.

No. 2002-KM-00848-SCT.

Supreme Court of Mississippi.

December 4, 2003.

*1205 David G. Hill, Oxford, attorney for appellant.

Bela J. Chain, III, Oxford, attorney for appellee.

EN BANC.

EASLEY, Justice, for the Court.

¶ 1. Near midnight on June 20, 2001, Lee Madison Palmer, Jr. (Palmer), a minor, was pulled over by Officer Ray Sockwell (Officer Sockwell) of the City of Oxford Police Department. The officer initially stopped Palmer on a speeding violation, traveling 45 miles per hour in a 30 mile per hour zone. Upon speaking with Palmer, Officer Sockwell noticed the strong smell of alcohol. This police stop eventually led to Palmer being tried and convicted of first offense driving under the influence (DUI) and speeding by the Oxford Municipal Court. Palmer then appealed the decision to the Circuit Court of Lafayette County for a de novo trial. On April 22, 2002, Palmer was tried and convicted in the circuit court, the Honorable Andrew K. Howorth presiding, of the crimes of first offense driving under the influence (DUI) and speeding. Palmer was sentenced to serve a term of 24 hours at the Lafayette County Detention Center, pay a $1,000 fine and taxed with court costs and assessments. Palmer now appeals to this Court from the DUI first offense conviction and sentence only.

FACTS

¶ 2. On the night of June 20, 2001, Officer Sockwell stopper Palmer for speeding, traveling 45 miles per hour in a 30 mile per hour zone. The officer determined the speed that Palmer was traveling through the use of radar. When Officer Sockwell spoke to Palmer, he noticed the strong smell of alcohol from Palmer's breath. Officer Sockwell asked Palmer whether he had been drinking. Palmer told the officer that he had had a few beers. Officer Sockwell then asked Palmer to step out of the vehicle. The officer noticed Palmer used the vehicle to support himself. Officer Sockwell also noted that when Palmer spoke he slurred his speech.

¶ 3. Next, Officer Sockwell administered field sobriety tests including the HGN, walk and turn and one legged stand. Officer Sockwell wrote down Palmer's test results contemporaneously with the administration of the tests on an Alcohol Drug Influence (ADI) report. After administering the HGN test, the officer noted that he observed four out of the possible six clues on this test.

¶ 4. A heel to toe test also was administered to Palmer. Officer Sockwell described the heel to toe test as follows:

Okay, sir. The subject is placed in a position on which right foot will be in front of his left foot on a line. His hands down at his side and he is given instructions on how to perform the test. He was told to take nine heel to toe steps down the line, turn by taking a series of small steps and nine heel to toe steps back during this time he is to keep his hands at his side without looking at his feet while he walks. Count out loud so I can hear him and don't stop the test until he has completed the whole test and then he is asked if he understands.

Officer Sockwell saw Palmer exhibit six out of a possible eight clues, which included: Palmer being unable to keep his balance during the test instruction period, starting the test too soon, stopped walking, *1206 missed a heel to toe movement, raised his arms, and performed 10 steps instead of nine.

¶ 5. Officer Sockwell also administered the one legged stand test. Out of the four possible clues for this test the officer observed all four clues which included swaying, raising his arms, hopping and putting his foot down. The officer also stated that Palmer exhibited three classic signs of intoxication which included the strong odor of alcohol on his breath, being unsteady on his feet and slurred speech. From his observation of the classic signs of intoxication, Officer Sockwell stated that he felt that Palmer was under the influence of intoxicating beverages. The officer made this determination before he administered the field sobriety tests to Palmer. Upon completion of the field sobriety tests, Officer Sockwell felt that Palmer was operating a motor vehicle under the influence of intoxicating beverages.

¶ 6. Soon thereafter, Officer Sockwell transported Palmer to the Lafayette County Detention Center to offer Palmer the Intoxilyzer 5000 test. At the center, Palmer was placed in the intoxilyzer room for observation by Officer Sockwell. Officer Sockwell is certified to use the Intoxilyzer 5000 machine. Before administering the intoxilyzer test, Officer Sockwell observed Palmer for 20 minutes to make sure that he neither ingested nor regurgitated anything by mouth. Palmer was offered three intoxilyzer tests at 00:48, 01:10 and 01:13 a.m. on June 21, 2002. All of the test cards were part of the record. Two of the tests administered on June 21, 2001, at 00:48 and 01:10, resulted in no blood alcohol content (BAC) reading. The two test results from the Intoxilyzer 5000 machine stated "Invalid test, check ambient conditions." The last test administered at 01:13 indicated that Palmer's BAC was .127. Officer Sockwell testified that he showed and told Palmer the test result of .127.

¶ 7. A citation document was given to Palmer on or about June 21 by Officer Sockwell. Officer Sockwell admitted that the copy of the citation that he served upon Palmer did not record the .127 BAC result. Officer Sockwell merely checked block A and C on the citation served upon Palmer.[1] Also, Officer Sockwell did not record the second invalid test (01:10 a.m.) on an intoxilyzer log sheet. Officer Sockwell stated that he read Palmer his rights with each test although there was no documentation to show that he had read Palmer his rights on the third test (01:13 a.m.). Between the second and third test Officer Sockwell stated that he just changed the mouthpiece on the machine.

¶ 8. After hearing the testimony from Officer Sockwell, the sole witness at trial, and hearing arguments by both the prosecution *1207 and defense, the trial judge ruled that Palmer was guilty of speeding and DUI first offense. The trial judge also stated:

I am going to have to say that, you know, there are issues here and there are things that procedures that are to be followed but nothing has been brought to the Court's attention either by statute or any case law that supports the propositions that the defendant's procedural rights or any rights of the defendant in this case were violated in this arrest.

From this ruling Palmer appeals to this Court raising the following issues:

ISSUES
I. Whether the trial court erred in admitting the intoxilyzer test over Palmer's objection to a series of substantive and procedural irregularities.
II. In the alternative, whether the trial court erred in convicting Palmer despite the testing officer's failure to follow established procedures approved by the Commissioner of Public Safety and the State Crime Lab, and specifically, the Officer's failure to follow the instructions on the Intoxilyzer 5000 Operator's Manual.
III. Whether the trial court erred in convicting Palmer of DUI over his objection to irregularities in the "copy" of the citation/affidavit he received.
IV. Whether the trial court erred in convicting Palmer of "common law" DUI in the absence of specific proof that Palmer's "ability to drive a vehicle" has been impaired by the ingestion of intoxicating liquor.
V.

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Palmer v. City of Oxford, 860 So. 2d 1203, 2003 WL 22861901 (Mich. 2003).

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