People v. Caruso

559 N.E.2d 545, 201 Ill. App. 3d 930, 147 Ill. Dec. 372, 1990 Ill. App. LEXIS 1270
CourtAppellate Court of Illinois
DecidedAugust 23, 1990
Docket2-89-0162
StatusPublished
Cited by17 cases

This text of 559 N.E.2d 545 (People v. Caruso) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Appellate Court of Illinois primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
People v. Caruso, 559 N.E.2d 545, 201 Ill. App. 3d 930, 147 Ill. Dec. 372, 1990 Ill. App. LEXIS 1270 (Ill. Ct. App. 1990).

Opinion

JUSTICE DUNN

delivered the opinion of the court:

Defendant, Frank Caruso III was charged with driving under the influence of alcohol, driving with a blood-alcohol concentration of .10 or more, and driving in the wrong lane. A jury found defendant not guilty of driving under the influence of alcohol but guilty of driving with a blood-alcohol concentration of .10 or more. The jury was unable to reach a verdict on the charge of driving in the wrong lane. Defendant was sentenced to one year’s probation, alcohol counseling, and fined $500 plus court costs.

On appeal, defendant contends (1) the verdicts of not guilty for driving under the influence of alcohol and guilty for driving with a blood-alcohol concentration of .10 or more are legally inconsistent; (2) the State failed to lay a proper foundation for admission of the breath test result; and (3) the State failed to prove defendant guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. For the reasons stated below, we affirm.

The evidence adduced at trial is summarized as follows.

Police officer Steven Weatherford testified he was on duty traveling north on Route 83 on December 5, 1987, at approximately 12:21 a.m., when he saw defendant’s car facing southbound in a northbound lane on Route 83. Route 83 had three lanes for through traffic and two left-turn lanes for each direction of traffic. Weatherford was stopped at the North Avenue light in the outside left-turn lane of Route 83, when he noticed defendant’s car stopped at the light in the north, left-through lane of Route 83, facing southbound. He activated his lights and pulled his car in front of defendant’s. When the light for the northbound through traffic turned green, the traffic in the left through lane merged to the center lane.

Weatherford approached defendant in his car and asked him what he was doing. Defendant responded that he was making a left turn. Weatherford detected a strong odor of alcoholic beverage coming from defendant’s breath and noticed defendant’s speech was slurred, his eyes were glassy and bloodshot, and his shirttail was untucked. Defendant used both hands to pull himself out of the car. When defendant walked to the back of the car, Weatherford did not notice any physical problems; defendant was not limping. Weatherford asked defendant if he had been drinking, and defendant told him “he had a couple.” When Weatherford asked defendant to perform some field-sobriety tests, specifically the walk-and-turn test and the one-legged-stand test, defendant responded that he could not do these tests because he had foot surgery on his right foot two weeks ago. Defendant said nothing about his knees at this time. Weatherford asked defendant to do the one-legged-stand test on his left foot. Defendant agreed and attempted the test, but he could only stand on this foot to a count of four instead of 30 as he was instructed. Believing that defendant was under the influence of alcohol, Weatherford placed defendant under arrest. On cross-examination, Weatherford stated he noticed nothing unusual about defendant’s walking as he walked while handcuffed from the squad car to the station, a distance of 20 to 40 feet.

Officer Kveton testified he responded to the scene and observed defendant with Officer Weatherford. He believed defendant was under the influence of alcohol due to a somewhat strong odor of alcohol, slurred speech, glassy and bloodshot eyes, a belligerent attitude, and poor balance. On cross-examination, Kveton stated he could not remember whether defendant performed the walk-the-line test.

Officer Wanderer testified that he performed the breath test on defendant at the police station. He had administered over 1,000 breath tests, and he was familiar with the Department of Public Health (Department) standards for testing of alcohol in blood and breath. The court took judicial notice of the Department’s standards. Wanderer received 40 hours of breath testing training in 1972 in compliance with the Department’s standards. He passed the practical and written tests and was certified in 1972. He has been recertified every year and has been certified to use the Breathalyzer 2000 for six years. His police department uses the Smith and Wesson Breathalyzer 2000, which is approved by the Department of Public Health, and the machine is regularly tested. Two pages in the breathalyzer logbook had been filled out by a Department inspector who tested the machine. One page stated that two tests were run on the machine on November 13, 1987, using a .10 simulator, and both tests came out -with .10 reading. On another page, the inspector wrote that on December 9, 1987, two tests were run with a .10 simulator and the tests came out with a .10 and a .09. The .09 reading, Wanderer testified, was in compliance with the Department standards, which allowed a variance for testing of .01. Along with the entries in the logbook, decals stating that the machine was accurate and precise within the limits prescribed by the Department had been affixed to the logbook pages. The logbook entries and the decals were admitted into evidence over defendant’s objection, though they have not been made a part of the appellate record.

In administering defendant’s test, Wanderer testified he followed a checklist in compliance with Department standards. The checklist was admitted into evidence. Wanderer completed the top part of the checklist, filling in the date, the instrument’s serial number, the name of the operator, and the name and driver’s license number of the subject. The checklist contained the following six steps that were checked off by Wanderer.

“(1) Check to insure power switch is on.
(2) Observe subject for twenty minutes prior to testing to prevent any oral intake.
(3) Insert test record ticket.
(4) Press start/test. Wait for ‘blow sample.’
(5) Take sample until ‘analyzing’ appears.
(6) When ‘analysis complete’ appears — remove test record ticket.”

Wanderer stated he did not have to turn on the machine because it is kept on 24 hours a day. Before defendant took the test, Wanderer observed defendant for 23 minutes. During that time he did not see defendant put anything in his mouth; nor did he see him belch, vomit, or regurgitate. Wanderer then inserted the ticket into the machine and pushed a button. The machine took a sample of the room air and purged that sample to come up with a reading of .00. At this point, Wanderer believed the machine was operating properly. When the machine said “blow sample,” he inserted a fresh mouthpiece and had defendant blow into the machine. The machine printed and displayed a reading of .18. The printout, which had defendant’s name on it, was admitted into evidence.

Wanderer testified he also completed an arresting officer’s checklist, which was admitted into evidence. Among other things, this checklist stated that the test was performed by an operator licensed by the Department of Health according to the Department of Health’s/manufacturer’s recommended testing procedures, and the instrument had been certified within 45 days of the date of the test as evidenced by a Department decal.

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

Related

People v. Smith
2015 IL App (1st) 122306 (Appellate Court of Illinois, 2015)
People v. Eagletail
2014 IL App (1st) 130252 (Appellate Court of Illinois, 2015)
People v. Thomas
2014 IL App (2d) 130660 (Appellate Court of Illinois, 2014)
People v. Claudio
864 N.E.2d 954 (Appellate Court of Illinois, 2007)
People v. Ruppel
708 N.E.2d 824 (Appellate Court of Illinois, 1999)
People v. Boughton
644 N.E.2d 471 (Appellate Court of Illinois, 1994)
People v. Graney
599 N.E.2d 574 (Appellate Court of Illinois, 1992)
People v. Boshears
592 N.E.2d 1187 (Appellate Court of Illinois, 1992)
People v. Kilpatrick
576 N.E.2d 546 (Appellate Court of Illinois, 1991)
People v. Hood
569 N.E.2d 228 (Appellate Court of Illinois, 1991)
People v. Keith
564 N.E.2d 901 (Appellate Court of Illinois, 1990)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
559 N.E.2d 545, 201 Ill. App. 3d 930, 147 Ill. Dec. 372, 1990 Ill. App. LEXIS 1270, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/people-v-caruso-illappct-1990.