State v. Evans

130 So. 3d 406, 2013 WL 6246277, 2013 La. App. LEXIS 2471
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedDecember 4, 2013
DocketNo. 48,489-KA
StatusPublished
Cited by8 cases

This text of 130 So. 3d 406 (State v. Evans) 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. Evans, 130 So. 3d 406, 2013 WL 6246277, 2013 La. App. LEXIS 2471 (La. Ct. App. 2013).

Opinion

WILLIAMS, J.

I, The defendant, Max Evans, was charged by bill of information with Driving While Intoxicated (“DWI”), third offense, a violation of LSA-R.S. 14:98(D). Following a jury trial, defendant was found guilty as charged and was sentenced to serve five years at hard labor, with three years suspended, and five years of supervised probation upon release from prison. We affirm the defendant’s conviction and the portion of the sentence which imposed a sentence of five years at hard labor, with three years suspended. We amend the defendant’s sentence to reflect that his term of probation is three years, and we affirm this sentence as amended.

[409]*409FACTS

On December 31, 2010, at approximately 4:45 p.m., the defendant was driving south on Louisiana Highway 9, in a single-cab Chevrolet pickup truck. Louisiana State Trooper Brandon Salmon, who was traveling north on the same highway, passed the defendant and observed that he. was not wearing a seat b.elt. The officer executed a U-turn and conducted a traffic stop. Trooper Salmon exited his police vehicle and approached the defendant. The officer explained the traffic violation, asked for the defendant’s driver’s license, vehicle registration and proof of automobile insurance; he also asked where the defendant had been and his destination. Trooper Salmon stated he did not notice any impairment in the defendant’s driving prior to pulling him over for the seat belt violation.

According to Trooper Salmon, when he approached the defendant he observed that the defendant’s eyes appeared glassy and bloodshot; he also detected an odor of alcohol on the defendant’s breath. He walked with the 12defendant to the passenger side of the truck to retrieve the vehicle registration and insurance documents. When, the defendant opened the door of the vehicle, Trooper Salmon observed what appeared to be a spilled alcoholic beverage on the floorboard. By that time, the officer was closer to the defendant and detected a more noticeable smell of alcohol on the defendant’s breath. Trooper Salmon asked the defendant if he had consumed any alcoholic beverages that day; the defendant replied that he had drunk some Budweiser beer earlier that day. As the officer called headquarters for the defendant’s driving record, he observed the defendant stabilizing and steadying himself on the police vehicle. Trooper Salmon stated that although the defendant’s balance seemed normal, he slightly swayed at times.

Trooper Salmon decided to administer the field sobriety tests. During the horizontal gaze nystagmus test, the officer noted that the defendant’s eyes tracked equally, but not smoothly, and he observed a deviation in both of the defendant’s eyes. According to Officer Salmon, these clues indicated that the defendant was impaired. The officer observed that defendant also swayed slightly during these tests. Additionally, during the walk-and-turn test, Trooper Salmon observed that the defendant started too soon, forgot the instructions and moved at a much slower pace than what the trooper considered normal. During another test, in which the defendant had to stand on one leg, the officer observed that the defendant swayed and put his foot down. Trooper Salmon testified that these responses indicated that the ^defendant was impaired.1

Trooper Salmon placed the defendant under arrest and transported him to the Homer police station. On arrival, he advised the defendant of his Miranda rights and his rights regarding the Intoxilyzer 5000 breathalyzer test. The' defendant consented to the test, which revealed that his blood-alcohol content was .140 grams; the legal limit is .08 grams.

During a booking interview, the defendant informed the officers that he was a non-insulin dependent diabetic and that he took medication for high blood pressure. He also stated that he had consumed four beers that morning.

During the trial, Kerry Johnson, an instructor and technician in blood-alcohol concentration testing, was accepted as an expert in the operation and maintenance of [410]*410the Intoxilyzer 5000 machine. He testified with regard to the maintenance of the machine and described how the machine works to analyze the amount of alcohol in a person’s blood during the test.

Jared Mclver was accepted as an expert in field sobriety testing, blood-alcohol testing on the Intoxilyzer 5000 and the detection of intoxication. Mclver testified that he had reviewed the defendant’s arrest report and the footage from the dash camera; he opined that Trooper Salmon correctly conducted the field sobriety tests. Mclver also opined that the defendant was impaired. Mclver stated the camera footage showed that the defendant used his hand to prop himself up, that he used his arm to balance himself, and that he was swaying. Mclver concluded that the defendant’s 14breath test results exceeded the legal limit by “quite a bit.”

The defendant testified that he had awakened at approximately 9:80 a.m. on the day in question and began drinking shortly thereafter. At approximately 10:00 a.m., he went back to sleep until 3:30 or 4:00 p.m. He stated that he then got into his car and drove to a grocery store to meet a friend, Louise Jones. While there, he encountered his girlfriend, Dorothy Ann Tucker, in the parking lot. The defendant testified that after speaking to Ms. Tucker, he met Ms. Jones in the parking lot and gave her money to bake a cake for him. Thereafter, he returned home, exited his car and got into his truck to drive to Ms. Jones’ house to pick up some food.

The defendant also testified that following his 2008 conviction for DWI, he had installed an ignition interlock device in his car pursuant to the court’s order. He admitted that he had owned the truck since 2009 but had not installed such a device in that vehicle. The defendant testified that he decided to drive his truck, rather than his car, on the day in question because he was going to Ms. Jones’ house and she had bushes along her driveway that would scratch his car.

Additionally, the defendant testified that he takes medication for high blood pressure and lower back pain and Vistaril for anxiety. He stated the back pain affects his left leg but admitted that he did not inform Trooper Salmon of this prior to taking the field sobriety tests. The defendant also admitted that he drank “a couple” of beers that morning and that he had not eaten anything that day. He denied Trooper Salmon’s testimony that his breath smelled of alcohol, that his eyes were red and glassy, and that he had 15spilled an alcoholic beverage in his vehicle.

The defendant also attempted to explain his failure in the field sobriety tests. He testified that he asked the officer to repeat the test instructions because the road noise made it difficult to hear. He also stated that he put his foot down to switch legs in the one-leg test because of his lower back pain, which makes his leg less stable.

Dorothy Ann Tucker testified that she and the defendant had been in a romantic relationship since 2006. She' stated she had been a passenger in the defendant’s car and had seen him blow into the ignition interlock device to start the vehicle. Ms. Tucker also testified that on the day in question, she saw defendant in the store parking lot next to his car and she did not smell any alcohol on his breath. She further stated that she knew defendant drove his truck to go fishing and that he liked to drink Miller Lite beer.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
130 So. 3d 406, 2013 WL 6246277, 2013 La. App. LEXIS 2471, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-evans-lactapp-2013.