State v. Edgar

294 P.3d 251, 296 Kan. 513, 2013 Kan. LEXIS 18
CourtSupreme Court of Kansas
DecidedFebruary 1, 2013
DocketNo. 103,028
StatusPublished
Cited by20 cases

This text of 294 P.3d 251 (State v. Edgar) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Kansas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
State v. Edgar, 294 P.3d 251, 296 Kan. 513, 2013 Kan. LEXIS 18 (kan 2013).

Opinion

The opinion of the court was delivered by

Biles, J.:

On petition for review from the district court’s denial of a suppression motion, this case presents two questions affecting investigations for driving under the influence of alcohol (DUI). The first is whether a driver’s favorable results from field sobriety tests administered prior to a request for a preliminary breath test (PBT) dissipate the reasonable suspicion statutorily required to support a request for a PBT. The second is whether the investigating officer in this case substantially complied with K.S.A. 2010 Supp. 8-1012(c), which requires oral notice that refusal to take a PBT is a traffic infraction, when the officer incorrectly told the suspect he had no right to refuse.

We hold that field sobriety tests administered prior to a PBT request are part of the totality of circumstances examined by a court when determining whether there was reasonable suspicion to support the PBT request under K.S.A. 2010 Supp. 8-1012(b). We hold further that the officer in this case failed to comply with the notice requirements in K.S.A. 2010 Supp. 8-1012(c) by incorrectly informing the suspect he had no right to refuse the PBT. We reverse the Court of Appeals on the notice issue. We reverse and remand to the district court for further proceedings.

Factual and Procedural Background

Bruno Edgar was charged with DUI in violation of K.S.A. 8-1567 (fourth or subsequent violation) and driving while his license [515]*515was suspended or revoked in violation of K.S.A. 8-262 (third or subsequent violation). The undisputed facts underlying these charges were presented at a preliminary hearing, in which the arresting officer testified as follows:

On July 29, 2007, a police officer was working a driver s license check lane, where eveiy car driving through was stopped. Around 12:45 a.m., the officer saw Edgar pull up to the check lane in a white Dodge pickup. The officer said Edgar acted confused when asked for his information and told the officer he did not have a drivers license. The officer waved Edgar onto the shoulder because there was traffic behind him.

When the officer again asked Edgar for his driver s license, Edgar presented an identification card. The officer asked again if Edgar had a regular driver’s license, and Edgar replied yes. The officer said he took Edgar’s identification card and ran it through dispatch, which advised that Edgar’s driver’s license was suspended.

The officer testified that during his conversation with Edgar, he could smell a “real light smell of alcoholic beverage” coming from Edgar’s truck. The officer asked Edgar if he had consumed any alcohol, and Edgar said “just beer” but did not say how much. The officer decided Edgar needed to undergo sobriety testing and had Edgar initially perform the following tests:

1. Horizontal gaze nystagmus test. The officer said this test showed a 45-degree nystagmus with no maximum deviation present and no vertical deviation.
2. Nine-step walk and turn. The officer testified that Edgar said he understood the instructions, but that the officer did not believe Edgar actually understood them because he seemed “a little confused” and remained in the same position. The officer explained the test to Edgar again, after which Edgar correctly followed instructions. During the test,, die officer said Edgar “did fine,” except that during the second set of nine steps, Edgar was not walking heel to toe on the fourth and fifth steps.' '
.3. One-leg stand. Edgar said he understood the instructions, and the officer said Edgar passed the test.

[516]*516The final test the officer administered was a PBT because, he said, it was part of his agency’s standard procedures. The officer testified the PBT tells him whether he wants to continue investigating and that he would have asked for a PBT even if he did not believe Edgar was impaired after the field sobriety tests. The PBT administered in this case required a sample of deep lung air that may be extracted only after a person forcibly blows air into the PBT device for a period of 3 to 5 seconds. The breath sample is then chemically analyzed.

The officer said he advised Edgar that he did not have a right to refuse the PBT, did not have a right to consult an attorney about taking the test, and could be subject to further testing. After those instructions, Edgar agreed to take a PBT, which showed a .122 blood-alcohol content level. Edgar was arrested for DUI and driving on a suspended driver’s license. Importantly, tire officer said he would not have arrested Edgar if it were not for the PBT results. Edgar later submitted to a blood test, which showed a blood alcohol level of 1.1 grams per 100 milliliters of blood.

At the conclusion of evidence at the preliminary hearing, the district court found probable cause to believe Edgar committed felonious driving under the influence of alcohol and bound him over for trial.

Following the preliminary hearing, Edgar filed the motion to suppress at issue in this appeal. He argued the purpose of the initial stop—to check for a driver’s license—had been completed when dispatch advised Edgar’s license was suspended and that further seizure of Edgar for DUI investigation required probable cause and consent. Edgar alternatively argued that he was not properly advised of his rights before the PBT was administered and that the officer did not have probable cause or. consent to administer the test. The motion to suppress argued:

“7. The Defendant asserts that tire purpose of the initial stop to check his driver’s license had been completed when dispatch returned the license status as being suspended. The further seizure of Mr. Edgar lacked the requisite probable cause and consent. Alternatively, the Defendant contests that he not was properly advised of his lights before the [PBT] was administered, arid that the officer did [517]*517not have probable cause or consent to administer the [PBT] and that the officer’s reliance on the [PBT] in seeking the subsequent blood test invalidates it.”

The State did not file a response.

At the hearing on the motion to suppress, the district court heard no additional arguments from counsel. It revisited the facts presented at the preliminary hearing. It held that absent the PBT results there was no probable cause to place Edgar under arrest or ask him to take an alcohol test because there was no evidence of bad driving and because Edgar had passed three earlier sobriety tests. The only evidence of intoxication, the district court found, was an odor of alcohol.

The district court ultimately denied Edgar s motion. It found the officer was not required to revisit his reasonable suspicion after each sobriety test.

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

Related

Burris v. Kansas Dept. of Revenue
Court of Appeals of Kansas, 2021
City of Eureka v. Clark
Court of Appeals of Kansas, 2021
State v. Cousins
Court of Appeals of Kansas, 2020
State v. Washington
Court of Appeals of Kansas, 2020
Sander v. Kansas Dept. of Revenue
Court of Appeals of Kansas, 2020
Fisher v. Kansas Dept. of Revenue
Court of Appeals of Kansas, 2020
Johnson v. Kansas Dept. of Revenue
Court of Appeals of Kansas, 2020
State v. Homolka
Court of Appeals of Kansas, 2020
Pershad v. Kansas Dept. of Revenue
Court of Appeals of Kansas, 2020
Campbell v. Kansas Dept. of Revenue
Court of Appeals of Kansas, 2020
State v. Ryce
368 P.3d 342 (Supreme Court of Kansas, 2016)
State of Arizona v. Francisco L. Encinas Valenzuela
350 P.3d 811 (Court of Appeals of Arizona, 2015)
City of Wichita v. Molitor
341 P.3d 1275 (Supreme Court of Kansas, 2015)
State v. Herman
324 P.3d 1134 (Court of Appeals of Kansas, 2014)
State v. Stevenson
321 P.3d 754 (Supreme Court of Kansas, 2014)
State v. Vrabel
305 P.3d 35 (Court of Appeals of Kansas, 2013)
State v. Johnson
301 P.3d 287 (Supreme Court of Kansas, 2013)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
294 P.3d 251, 296 Kan. 513, 2013 Kan. LEXIS 18, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-edgar-kan-2013.