State of Idaho v. Robert Anderson

CourtIdaho Court of Appeals
DecidedApril 27, 2007
StatusPublished

This text of State of Idaho v. Robert Anderson (State of Idaho v. Robert Anderson) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Idaho Court of Appeals primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
State of Idaho v. Robert Anderson, (Idaho Ct. App. 2007).

Opinion

IN THE COURT OF APPEALS OF THE STATE OF IDAHO

Docket No. 32038

STATE OF IDAHO, ) ) 2007 Opinion No. 23 Plaintiff-Appellant-Cross Respondent, ) ) Filed: April 27, 2007 v. ) ) Stephen W. Kenyon, Clerk ROBERT ANDERSON, ) ) Defendant-Respondent-Cross ) Appellant. ) )

Appeal from the District Court of the Fourth Judicial District, State of Idaho, Ada County. Hon. D. Duff McKee, District Judge; Hon. Thomas P. Watkins, Magistrate.

Decision of the district court on intermediate appeal, setting aside jury verdict and vacating conviction for excessive DUI, affirmed in part, reversed in part, and remanded.

Hon. Lawrence G. Wasden, Attorney General; Lori A. Fleming, Deputy Attorney General, Boise, for appellant. Lori A. Fleming argued.

Ringert, Clark Chtd., Boise, for respondent. James G. Reid argued. ______________________________________________

SCHWARTZMAN, Judge Pro Tem The state appeals from the district court’s intermediate appellate decision and order reversing, on the ground of insufficient evidence, Robert Anderson’s conviction for misdemeanor driving under the influence with an alcohol concentration of .20 or more. Anderson cross-appeals on four alternative grounds for relief addressed and rejected by the district court. We affirm the district court’s order in part, reverse in part, and remand. I. FACTUAL & PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND Following a single vehicle traffic accident, Anderson was arrested for driving under the influence of alcohol. At the jail, he performed three breath tests on the Intoxilyzer 5000. The first returned an alcohol concentration of .22 and the second .19. Because the variance exceeded

1 .02, the arresting officer, pursuant to Idaho State Police standard operating procedure for breath testing,1 had Anderson perform a third test, which returned an alcohol concentration of .24. Anderson was charged by complaint with driving with “an alcohol concentration of 0.20 . . . or more, as shown by an analysis of his blood, breath or urine by a test requested by a police officer . . . .” Idaho Code § 18-8004C(1) (hereinafter referred to as “excessive DUI”). Anderson moved to dismiss the charge, contending that because the test that registered .19 alcohol concentration was a valid test, he could not be properly convicted of excessive DUI as the state could not prove this element beyond a reasonable doubt. The magistrate denied the motion, based in part upon the state’s assertion that it would explain the reason for the .19 result through expert testimony. At trial, the jury was instructed the parties had stipulated that all of the elements of I.C. § 18-8004(1)(a), i.e., driving with an alcohol concentration of .08 or more and hereinafter referred to as “simple DUI,” had been established and that the only issue for the jury to resolve was whether Anderson had an alcohol concentration of .20 or more. The state called two witnesses. The arresting officer testified, in summary, that the three tests were performed at one- minute intervals, that he noticed no irregularities in the testing procedures, that Anderson performed the three tests correctly, and that the Intoxilyzer 5000 accepted each of the breath samples and returned the referenced results. The state’s expert, David Laycock, testified that the .19 test might have occurred because Anderson may not have blown as hard or as long on this sample as he did on the first or third samples. The expert further testified that because the machine was calibrated low, to Anderson’s benefit, and because the .22 and .24 results were within .02 of each other, in his opinion Anderson’s alcohol concentration was at least .20. The jury returned a guilty verdict. Anderson appealed to the district court on numerous grounds. The district court reversed the conviction for excessive DUI holding, in essence, that the state failed to prove the disputed element beyond a reasonable doubt. The district court also expressly addressed, and rejected,

1 This procedure is set forth in the Idaho State Police manual entitled “Standard Operating Procedure - Breath Alcohol Testing,” issued pursuant to I.C. § 18-8004(4) and Idaho Administrative Code 11.03.01.013.03. See In re Mahurin, 140 Idaho 656, 658, 99 P.3d 125, 127 (Ct. App. 2004).

2 four alternative grounds for relief advanced by Anderson. The case was then remanded to the magistrate for further proceedings.2 The state appeals from the reversal of the conviction for excessive DUI and Anderson cross-appeals from the denial of his alternative grounds for relief. II. STATE’S APPEAL A. Was the State’s Evidence Sufficient to Prove Beyond a Reasonable Doubt that Anderson Had an Alcohol Concentration of .20 or More? Idaho Code § 18-8004C requires as an essential element that a driver have an alcohol concentration of .20 or more “as shown by an analysis of his blood, breath or urine by a test requested by a police officer.” On intermediate appeal, the district court held that the evidence adduced at trial was insufficient to sustain a conviction for excessive DUI, I.C. §§ 18-8004C, 18- 8004(1)(a). The court first reasoned that if the state’s evidence is that a defendant’s breath alcohol concentration is both greater than and less than .20, the statutory threshold for this offense, then the evidence is insufficient as a matter of law to meet the burden of proof beyond a reasonable doubt. The district court then focused on whether the state presented competent evidence on which the jury could rationally find that the .19 blow was an invalid sample that could be disregarded. The district court concluded that the state had failed to present such evidence, and because all three alcohol concentration tests were deemed valid samples, the state had failed to prove the element of an alcohol concentration of .20 or more. The state argues that in order to sustain a conviction for excessive DUI, it need not present any trial evidence invalidating the .19 test result and, in the alternative, that if such a showing is required, that it was made. We address each in turn.3 The state first contends that in order to sustain a conviction for excessive DUI over a sufficiency of the evidence challenge, it need not have presented any trial evidence invalidating the .19 test result. We disagree. Evidence is sufficient to support a verdict where there is substantial evidence upon which a reasonable trier of fact could have found that the prosecution

2 See infra at Section II(D). 3 While addressing these issues, we are also mindful that it is important to consider the effect of the analysis here, specific to excessive DUI, upon an alcohol concentration prosecution for simple DUI, section 18-8004(1)(a), for the two inquiries should be the same, absent the statutory prohibition of prosecution under the latter statute as discussed below.

3 sustained its burden of proving the essential elements of the crime beyond a reasonable doubt. State v. Herrera-Brito, 131 Idaho 383, 385, 957 P.2d 1099, 1101 (Ct. App. 1998). We agree with the district court’s analysis that if multiple valid tests have been done, and at least one result is less than the statutory threshold for the offense, the state cannot satisfy its burden of proof beyond a reasonable doubt simply by asking the jury to disregard the result showing innocence, for a verdict of guilty in that instance would be based on little more than speculation. In this light, it is important to note that the jury was asked to determine guilt based upon three conflicting test results from analysis done by the state’s machine.

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State of Idaho v. Robert Anderson, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-of-idaho-v-robert-anderson-idahoctapp-2007.