State v. Doucette

899 So. 2d 159, 2005 WL 767169
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedApril 6, 2005
Docket2004-1539
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 899 So. 2d 159 (State v. Doucette) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Louisiana Court of Appeal primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
State v. Doucette, 899 So. 2d 159, 2005 WL 767169 (La. Ct. App. 2005).

Opinion

899 So.2d 159 (2005)

STATE of Louisiana
v.
Devrin P. DOUCETTE.

No. 2004-1539.

Court of Appeal of Louisiana, Third Circuit.

April 6, 2005.

*160 Richard Bryant, Jr., District Attorney, Carla S. Sigler, Asst. District Attorney, Lake Charles, LA, for Plaintiff/Appellee, State of Louisiana.

Mitchell P. Bergeron, Sulphur, LA, for Defendant/Appellant, Devrin P. Doucette.

Devrin P. Doucette, Sulphur, LA, pro se.

Court composed of SYLVIA R. COOKS, JOHN D. SAUNDERS, and GLENN B. GREMILLION, Judges.

GREMILLION, Judge.

In this case, the defendant, Devrin Doucette, appeals his conviction of operating a vehicle while intoxicated, fourth offense, in violation of La.R.S. 14:98. For the following reasons, we affirm with instructions.

SUFFICIENCY OF EVIDENCE

Defendant argues that the evidence was insufficient to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that he was guilty of operating a vehicle while intoxicated. We will address this assignment first because should it be determined that the evidence was not sufficient, Defendant would be entitled to an acquittal and the remaining assignment of errors would be moot.

When the issue of sufficiency of evidence is raised on appeal, the critical inquiry of the reviewing court is whether, after viewing the evidence in the light most favorable to the prosecution, any rational trier of fact could have found the essential elements of the crime proven beyond a reasonable doubt. Jackson v. Virginia, 443 U.S. 307, 99 S.Ct. 2781, 61 L.Ed.2d 560, rehearing denied, 444 U.S. 890, 100 S.Ct. 195, 62 L.Ed.2d 126 (1979); State ex rel. Graffagnino v. King, 436 So.2d 559 (La. 1983); State v. Duncan, 420 So.2d 1105 (La.1982); State v. Moody, 393 So.2d 1212 (La.1981).

State v. Williams, 03-1773, p. 1 (La.App. 3 Cir. 6/2/04), 878 So.2d 765, 766 (quoting State v. Kennerson, 96-1518, p. 5 (La.App. 3 Cir. 5/7/97), 695 So.2d 1367, 1371).

At the time of the offense, La.R.S. 14:98, in pertinent part, provided:

A. (1) The crime of operating a vehicle while intoxicated is the operating of any motor vehicle, aircraft, watercraft, vessel, or other means of conveyance when:
(a) The operator is under the influence of alcoholic beverages; or
(b) The operator's blood alcohol concentration is 0.10 percent or more by weight based on grams of alcohol per one hundred cubic centimeters of blood.

Jeff Johnson, a trooper with the Louisiana State Police, testified at trial that in the early morning hours of May 20, 2000, he was called to investigate a two-car accident. Defendant was a driver of one of *161 the vehicles. Trooper Johnson testified that Defendant told him he was one of the drivers and identified which vehicle was his. At this time, Trooper Johnson detected a strong odor of alcoholic beverage on Defendant's breath. He testified that Defendant's speech was slurred, his eyes were bloodshot, and he was swaying back and forth. Trooper Johnson said that he performed field sobriety tests on Defendant, the horizontal gaze nystagmus test, the walk and turn test, and the stand-on-one-leg test. He testified that Defendant failed each test and he made the determination that Defendant was intoxicated and placed him under arrest. Following his investigation of the accident, Trooper Johnson took Defendant back to headquarters, where he was subjected to a breathalyzer test. The result of the breathalyzer test indicated that Defendant had a .222 percent blood alcohol content.

Defendant argues that the State failed to prove that he was driving the vehicle or that medication affected his performance of the field sobriety test or the breathalyzer test. Defendant also claims that he preformed the field sobriety test while being video taped in a manner that showed no signs of intoxication.

After Trooper Johnson obtained the results of the breathalyzer test, he conducted the stand-on-one-leg and the walk and turn sobriety tests in the office, which were video taped. Our review of the video tape showed that Defendant performed without noticeable trouble and that his speech was not noticeably slurred. However, the trooper testified that it had been more than an hour from the time of the first field sobriety test and the taking of the breathalyzer test. While it appeared that Defendant's performance on the in-office sobriety tests was adequate, "observations of the arresting officer may be sufficient to establish the defendant's guilt." State v. Finch, 31,888, p. 5 (La. App. 2 Cir. 5/5/99), 733 So.2d 716, 722. However, the most telling evidence is the breathalyzer test, which indicated that Defendant had a blood alcohol percentage of twice the legal limit at the time he performed the in-office sobriety test.

Following the in-office sobriety test, the trooper asked Defendant if he was the driver of the vehicle, to which the Defendant answered, "Yes." The trooper then asked him if he had taken any medication within the last twenty-four hours, to which he answered, "No." The trooper asked him if he had been drinking alcoholic beverages prior to the accident and he answered, "Yes."

Once again, we note that the result of the breathalyzer test was .222 percentage blood alcohol content. At the time of the incident, La.R.S. 32:662(A)(1)(c) provided that "[i]f the person had a blood alcohol concentration at that time of 0.10 percent or more by weight, it shall be presumed that the person was under the influence of alcoholic beverages."

We find the State proved beyond a reasonable doubt that Defendant was under the influence of intoxicating beverages when he was involved in a two-car accident. He admitted he was drinking prior to the accident, that he was driving the vehicle at the time of the accident, and that he was not on any medication at the time the field sobriety test or the breathalyzer test was administered. Moreover, he told the trooper he had not had anything to drink following the accident. For these reasons, this assignment of error is without merit.

MOTIONS TO QUASH PRIOR CONVICTIONS

Defendant filed a Motion to Quash the Bill of Information which alleged three *162 prior convictions for operating a vehicle while intoxicated. Immediately following the trial court's denial of his motion to quash, Defendant filed a pre-trial supervisory writ with this court raising two assignments of error. We affirmed the trial court's ruling and denied Defendant's writ. Defendant now presents the same two assignments of error he brought to this court in his pre-trial writ. He has offered no new evidence or argument regarding the alleged errors at trial or in brief before this court.

Therefore, we are presented with the same issues and the same evidence which were before us in the pretrial writ application. In State v. Chambers, 99-678 (La. App. 3 Cir. 1/19/00), 758 So.2d 231, writ denied, 00-0551 (La.9/22/00), 768 So.2d 600, we were presented with a similar situation. The defendant sought review of the trial court's denial of his motion to suppress both before and after his trial. On appeal, we wrote:

A defendant may seek review of a pretrial ruling by the trial court even after the denial of a pretrial supervisory writ application seeking review of the same issue:
The prior denial of supervisory writs does not bar reconsideration of an issue on appeal, nor does it prevent the appellate panel from reaching a different conclusion. State v.

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Related

State v. Magana
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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
899 So. 2d 159, 2005 WL 767169, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-doucette-lactapp-2005.