State v. Collins

72 S.W.3d 188, 2002 Mo. App. LEXIS 695, 2002 WL 465133
Missouri Court of Appeals·Decided March 28, 2002·No. 24261·Published·Cited by 7 cases

Opinions

PHILLIP R. GARRISON, Presiding Judge.

Teena E. Collins (“Defendant”) was charged with the class D felony of driving while intoxicated, in violation of Section 577.010.1 Following a bench trial, she was found guilty and was sentenced to five years imprisonment. The trial court suspended execution of the sentence, and placed Defendant on five years supervised probation. Defendant appeals.

In the early morning hours of June 23, 1999, Officer John Poulson (“Officer Poul-son”) of the City of Willard Police Department was parked in his patrol car on the shoulder of the road, facing east on U.S. Highway 160 at Route AD in Willard, Missouri. Officer Poulson noticed two pickup trucks heading west on Highway 160, a smaller one in front and a larger truck following within one car length. Officer Poulson determined that the second truck was following too closely, so he followed the trucks without activating his overhead lights, hoping that the sight of his patrol car would alert the driver of the second truck to correct the problem. While following the trucks, Officer Poulson saw that the second truck was driving with its right tires on the white fog line. The truck went off onto the shoulder and then corrected, causing the left tires to cross over the center line. The truck then corrected the other way, going onto the shoulder of the road. Officer Poulson then activated his overhead lights to stop the second truck.

Both of the trucks pulled over, and the driver of the first truck got out and spoke [191] with Officer Poulson, telling him that he was the uncle of Defendant, the driver of the second truck. Officer Poulson asked the uncle to wait at Cotner’s Corner at the intersection of Highway 160 and Highway 123, which he did.

Officer Poulson approached Defendant, who had her window rolled down. He noticed that Defendant’s eyes were “fairly bloodshot,” and he smelled the odor of intoxicants when she spoke. After being asked for her license and insurance card, Defendant had trouble opening her purse, retrieving the documents, and closing her purse. Defendant’s speech was “slurred and mumbled,” forcing Officer Poulson to ask her to speak up or to repeat herself several times. Officer Poulson told Defendant that he smelled the odor of intoxicants and asked her how much she had had to drink. Defendant denied drinking, and told Officer Poulson that the smell was her new pine-scented air fresheners. Officer Poulson then returned Defendant’s insurance card, keeping her license, and told her to wait there. When Officer Poulson went back toward the patrol car, Defendant started her truck and left. Defendant’s truck was weaving on and off the shoulder of the road as she left. Officer Poulson got into his car, activated his siren, and followed Defendant.

After being pursued by Officer Poulson, Defendant pulled over again near the off ramp from Highway 160 to Highway 123. When Officer Poulson approached, Defendant said, “Well, I thought you were finished with me.” Officer Poulson administered a horizontal gaze nystagmus test, which indicated that Defendant was possibly intoxicated. Officer Poulson then asked Defendant to remain in the truck, to turn off the engine, and to give him the keys, which she did. Officer Poulson then went to his patrol car and requested backup.

After backup arrived, Officer Poulson asked Defendant to get out of the truck for field sobriety tests. As she stepped out, she fell toward the lane of traffic and had to use the truck door to catch herself. When she regained her balance, she started walking toward the back of the truck, keeping her hand on the truck to maintain balance. Officer Poulson then administered the horizontal gaze nystagmus test again, since Defendant was not facing forward during the first test. As Officer Poulson was explaining the test, Defendant lost her balance and fell backward. The test again indicated that Defendant was possibly intoxicated.

Officer Poulson then administered the walk and turn test. He told Defendant to stand heel to toe while he explained the test. However, Defendant immediately started walking. Officer Poulson stopped her and had her come back and try again, telling her to “just stand there” heel to toe. Once again, Defendant started walking. After repeating the instructions again, Defendant finally stood still. However, while standing, Defendant lost her balance, so Officer Poulson had her stand with her feet apart for the rest of the instructions. During the walk and turn test, Defendant stepped on her toe, stepped off the line, used her arms for balance, and failed to touch heel to toe.

Finally, Officer Poulson administered the one-leg stand test. Defendant put her foot down four .times, used her arms for balance, swayed from side to side, and hopped several times during the test. Officer Poulson arrested Defendant and transported her to the Willard Police Department.

At the police station, Officer Poulson advised Defendant of her rights and asked her to take a breath test, which she agreed to do. In the course of questioning Defendant pursuant to the Alcohol Influence Re[192] port, Officer Poulson asked Defendant what time she thought it was. Although it was 4:00 a.m., Defendant said it was 9:30 p.m. Officer Poulson observed Defendant for fifteen minutes and then had her take the test, which revealed a blood alcohol content of .180 percent.

Sergeant Ronald Killingsworth (“Sergeant Killingsworth”) testified that he tested the Willard Police Department breath analysis machine, a BAC DataMaster with serial number 950331, and that the machine was functioning properly. The State also presented evidence that Defendant had two prior convictions for driving while intoxicated within the past ten years.

Defendant did not testify in her own defense, but called her uncle, who testified that she did not appear intoxicated to him that night. Defendant’s mother also testified that Defendant had a number of health problems that might have made her appear to be intoxicated.

At the close of all the evidence, the trial court found Defendant guilty of driving while intoxicated. Defendant appeals.

In her first point on appeal, Defendant argues that the trial court erred in admitting into evidence “the results of a breathalyzer test without a proper foundation of absolute and literal compliance with the Department of Health regulations promulgated pursuant to Chapter 577.” Defendant contends that there was not sufficient evidence that Officer Poulson, who administered the breath test, was certified to run the BAC DataMaster machine used to measure Defendant’s blood alcohol level.

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State v. Collins, 72 S.W.3d 188, 2002 Mo. App. LEXIS 695, 2002 WL 465133 (Mo. Ct. App. 2002).

72 S.W.3d 188 (State v. Collins) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

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