State v. Hamilton

543 P.3d 704, 330 Or. App. 258
CourtCourt of Appeals of Oregon
DecidedJanuary 24, 2024
DocketA172776
StatusPublished
Cited by8 cases

This text of 543 P.3d 704 (State v. Hamilton) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Oregon primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
State v. Hamilton, 543 P.3d 704, 330 Or. App. 258 (Or. Ct. App. 2024).

Opinion

258 January 24, 2024 No. 35

IN THE COURT OF APPEALS OF THE STATE OF OREGON

STATE OF OREGON, Plaintiff-Respondent, v. SHAYNA LYNN HAMILTON, Defendant-Appellant. Jackson County Circuit Court 18CR31535; A172776

Laura A. Cromwell, Judge. Argued and submitted June 21, 2022. Francis C. Gieringer, Deputy Public Defender, argued the cause for appellant. Also on the briefs was Ernest G. Lannet, Chief Defender, Criminal Appellate Section, Office of Public Defense Services. Christopher A. Perdue, Assistant Attorney General, argued the cause for respondent. Also on the brief were Ellen F. Rosenblum, Attorney General, and Benjamin Gutman, Solicitor General. Before Ortega, Presiding Judge, and Powers, Judge, and Hellman, Judge. POWERS, J. Convictions on Counts 1 and 3 reversed and remanded; remanded for resentencing; otherwise affirmed. Cite as 330 Or App 258 (2024) 259 260 State v. Hamilton

POWERS, J. Defendant appeals from a judgment of conviction for two counts of driving under the influence of intoxicants (DUII), ORS 813.010 (Counts 1 and 3), and two counts of reckless driving, ORS 811.140 (Counts 2 and 4), arising out of two traffic stops. Among her contentions advanced on appeal, she argues that the trial court erred by denying her motion to suppress evidence of her refusals to perform field sobriety tests (FSTs) during both stops. We conclude that, under State v. Banks, 364 Or 332, 434 P3d 361 (2019), refusals to perform FSTs—like refusals to perform breath tests—may be admitted as evidence of guilt if the state proves that law enforcement’s requests to perform the tests could be understood only as a request to submit to the phys- ical act, and not as a request that defendant provide consti- tutionally significant consent to the tests. Here, the state did not meet that burden, and therefore we conclude that the trial court erred in admitting evidence of defendant’s refusals to participate in the FSTs. We further summarily reject all but one of defendant’s remaining assignments of error. Accordingly, we reverse and remand. I. FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND A. Standard of Review In reviewing the denial of a motion to suppress, we accept the trial court’s factual findings that are supported by the evidence and determine whether the court correctly applied legal principles to those facts. State v. Brandes, 317 Or App 672, 674, 506 P3d 431 (2022). In so doing, we limit our discussion of the facts to the record that was developed at the pretrial hearing. Id. We begin with the undisputed background facts for both stops, which were presented at the hearing on defendant’s motion to suppress and included video footage from the stopping deputies’ body cameras on October 21, 2017, and January 6, 2018.1 1 Defendant was also charged with two counts of unlawful possession of a controlled substance related to the January 2018 stop. The state dismissed those charges, as well as an additional charge of DUII on a later date in January 2018. The jury acquitted her of additional charges of DUII and reckless driving that were based on an April 2018 encounter. Cite as 330 Or App 258 (2024) 261

B. October 21, 2017, Incident Around midnight on October 21, 2017, Deputy Brown was dispatched to a report of a white Toyota Camry that was weaving back and forth and failing to stay in its lane. When Brown located the vehicle, he saw it cross into the opposite lane by about four feet before quickly moving back into its own lane. Brown initiated a traffic stop. After the Camry pulled over, Brown approached the vehicle, which defendant was driving. Although it was not raining at the time, the windshield wipers were moving at full speed, and defendant struggled to shut them off and find the switch to roll down her window. Brown explained to defendant that he saw her go over the double yellow line and that he observed that she was alternately braking and accelerating. He asked if there was a reason that she was driving that way, and defendant responded that she was driving home from work and was exhausted from working a long day. Brown told defendant that she was called in as an impaired driver and asked if defendant was on medications or had taken any drugs. Defendant said no. He told defen- dant that he had “concerns about [her] ability to safely oper- ate a vehicle” and then asked, “So what I would like to do is I would like to administer some standardized field sobriety tests to make sure that you’re safe to drive back to Dixie. Okay? Is that something that you would voluntarily consent to doing tonight?” Defendant refused. She told Brown that she had worked a long day with no breaks and had not eaten that day. Brown responded, “But here’s the deal, if you’re just exhausted * * * if you consented to the field sobriety tests and I was to administer those and you don’t show indi- cators of impairment, * * * exhaustion is not an intoxicant that I’m looking for. * * * And if you’re not impaired, you’re not impaired and you’re going to be able to drive home.” Brown and defendant continued to discuss her driving, and Brown asked again, “So I’m going to ask you one more time. I would like to administer some standardized field sobriety tests to make sure that you’re good to go.” Defendant replied that she was not willing to take any sobriety tests. 262 State v. Hamilton

Brown read defendant her Miranda rights and pro- vided the so-called Rohrs admonishment, which is derived from State v. Rohrs, 157 Or App 494, 499, 970 P2d 272 (1998), aff’d, 333 Or 397 (2002). Brown told defendant, “So I’m going to read you the Rohrs admonishment. I’m going to ask you to submit to a purely physical field sobriety test. None of these tests I will ask you to perform will require you to reveal your thoughts, beliefs, or state of mind.” Brown described the horizontal gaze nystagmus test, the walk-and- turn test, and the one-leg stand test. After each description, he asked, “Are you willing to perform this test?” and each time defendant refused. He asked, “Are you willing to per- form any tests that I’m going to ask you to perform tonight?” and defendant refused. Brown then arrested defendant. Deputies searched defendant’s car following her arrest and discovered a prescription bottle containing vari- ous pills in the car. Brown testified at the suppression hear- ing that he did not search the trunk but that he could not remember exactly where he found the bottle. Defendant consented to providing a breath sample and, at the police station, consented to providing a urine sample. The breath sample returned a 0.00 blood alcohol content (BAC), and the urine sample tested positive for various substances includ- ing opioids and muscle relaxers, including buprenorphine, norbuprenorphine, carisoprodol, meprobamate, alprazolam, alpha-Hydroxyalprazolam, and phentermine. C. January 6, 2018, Incident Deputy Hohl was on duty on January 5, 2018, when shortly before midnight a white Toyota Camry was reported to be running red lights and swerving in its lane. He located the vehicle and observed it go across the fog line and almost into a ditch, jerk back into its lane, and then cross over approximately seven feet beyond the center line and into the opposing lane of travel before jerking back into its lane again. Hohl initiated a traffic stop. When Hohl approached the vehicle, the windshield wipers were on, despite it being a clear night. Defendant’s speech was slow, and she seemed confused and disoriented. Hohl told defendant that he stopped her because she was Cite as 330 Or App 258 (2024) 263

going all over the road and that he saw her almost crash four times. He asked if she had consumed any prescriptions, marijuana, or alcohol.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
543 P.3d 704, 330 Or. App. 258, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-hamilton-orctapp-2024.