State v. Henkel

746 S.E.2d 347, 404 S.C. 626, 2013 WL 3456562, 2013 S.C. App. LEXIS 184
CourtCourt of Appeals of South Carolina
DecidedJuly 10, 2013
DocketAppellate Case No. 2011-184986; No. 5159
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 746 S.E.2d 347 (State v. Henkel) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of South Carolina primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
State v. Henkel, 746 S.E.2d 347, 404 S.C. 626, 2013 WL 3456562, 2013 S.C. App. LEXIS 184 (S.C. Ct. App. 2013).

Opinions

LOCKEMY, J.

Gregg Henkel argues the trial court erred in denying his motion to dismiss his indictment for driving under the influence (DUI). Henkel contends the South Carolina Highway Patrol (SCHP) failed to comply with section 56-5-2953 of the South Carolina Code (2006), which requires the arresting officer to provide videotaping of the defendant’s conduct at the incident site. We reverse.

FACTS/PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

Around 1:00 a.m. on January 19, 2008, Lillie Chastain called 911 and reported a motorist driving a truck erratically on I-385 in Greenville County. Chastain followed the truck until it hit a bridge and overturned into a ditch. She observed the driver get out of the truck and jump over a fence. Sergeant Wesley Hiott of the SCHP arrived on the scene and organized a search for the driver. Officers were unable to locate the driver, and the scene was cleared.

Around 4:00 or 5:00 a.m., Sergeant Hiott responded to a call indicating the possible driver of the truck had been located on 1-385. When he arrived on the scene, Sergeant Hiott pulled [628]*628his patrol car to the front of the line of emergency vehicles on the side of the interstate. Thereafter, Sergeant Hiott found Henkel being examined by EMS in an ambulance behind his patrol car. Sergeant Hiott got into the ambulance with Henkel and could smell alcohol. Sergeant Hiott read Henkel his Miranda rights and performed a horizontal gaze nystagmus (HGN) test inside the ambulance. After performing the HGN test, Sergeant Hiott concluded Henkel was under the influence and moved him from inside the ambulance to the side of his patrol car. There, Sergeant Hiott had Henkel recite his ABCs.1 Henkel failed the ABC test and admitted to Sergeant Hiott he was the driver of the wrecked truck. Henkel was arrested and placed in Sergeant Hiott’s patrol car. Once inside the patrol car, Sergeant Hiott turned the dashboard video camera to face Henkel and read him his Miranda rights again.

Henkel was indicted for DUI and a trial was held in February 2011. Prior to trial, Henkel moved to dismiss the indictment on the ground that neither the field sobriety tests nor the initial Miranda warning were videotaped as required by section 56-5-2958 of the South Carolina Code. The trial court reserved ruling on the motion until all of the testimony was presented.

Sergeant Hiott testified he activated the patrol car’s video camera and his microphone by the remote control on his belt. The record indicates this occurred after Sergeant Hiott read Henkel his Miranda rights in the ambulance but before he administered the HGN test. Sergeant Hiott testified he activated the camera as soon as it was practicable. Two versions of the videotape from the incident site were admitted into evidence. In the defense’s version (Court’s Exhibit 1), the videotape includes audio of the HGN and ABC tests but does not include video because these tests were not administered in front of Sergeant Hiott’s patrol car where the video camera was aimed. The State’s version (State’s Exhibit 2) of the videotape is nearly identical to Court’s Exhibit 1 but does not begin until after the HGN test. Thus, the videotapes in [629]*629evidence do not include any video or audio of the initial Miranda warning, or any video of the HGN or ABC tests.

At the conclusion of the testimony, Henkel renewed his motion to dismiss. The trial court denied Henkel’s motion based on “the totality ... [of] the evidence.” The trial court noted Sergeant Hiott testified he activated the video camera as soon as practicable. The trial court further found the HGN and ABC tests “don’t cry out for video representation ... [t]hey cry out for audio representation on the ABCs.” Based on the tests given, the trial court determined the videotape “met the requirements of the law.”

The jury found Henkel guilty of DUI, and he was sentenced to three years in prison suspended upon the service of three months and thirty months of probation. This appeal followed.

STANDARD OF REVIEW

“In criminal cases, the appellate court sits to review errors of law only.” State v. Baccus, 367 S.C. 41, 48, 625 S.E.2d 216, 220 (2006) (citing State v. Wilson, 345 S.C. 1, 5, 545 S.E.2d 827, 829 (2001)). “This [cjourt is bound by the trial court’s factual findings unless they are clearly erroneous.” Id. (citing State v. Quattlebaum, 338 S.C. 441, 452, 527 S.E.2d 105, 111 (2000)).

LAW/ANALYSIS

Henkel argues the trial court erred in denying his motion to dismiss his DUI indictment because the State failed to produce a videotape that complied with section 56-5-2953 of the South Carolina Code. The State contends Sergeant Hiott activated the video camera as soon as practicable, and the videotape, while capturing only audio of the field sobriety tests, was sufficient to show Henkel’s conduct at the incident site. We reverse the trial court’s decision.

I. Applicable Law

Subsection 56-5-2953(A) provides:

(A) A person who violates Section 56-5-2930, 56-5-2933, or 56-5-2945 must have his conduct at the incident site and the breath test site videotaped.
(1) The videotaping at the incident site must:
[630]*630(a) begin not later than the activation of the officer’s blue lights and conclude after the arrest of the person for a violation of Section 56-5-2930, 56-5-2933, or a probable cause determination that the person violated Section 56-5-2945; and
(b) include the person being advised of his Miranda rights before any field sobriety tests are administered, if the tests are administered.

S.C.Code Ann. § 56-5-2953(A) (2006).2 Subsection (B) of section 56-5-2953 outlines several statutory exceptions that excuse noncompliance with the mandatory videotaping requirements. Pursuant to subsection 56-5-2953(B),

[fjailure by the arresting officer to produce the videotapes required by this section is not alone a ground for dismissal ... if the arresting officer submits a sworn affidavit certifying that the videotape equipment at the time of the arrest, probable cause determination, or breath test device was in an inoperable condition, stating reasonable efforts have been made to maintain the equipment in an operable condition, and certifying that there was no other operable breath test facility available in the county or, in the alternative, submits a sworn affidavit certifying that it was physically impossible to produce the videotape because the person needed emergency medical treatment, or exigent circumstances existed. Further, in circumstances including, but not limited to, road blocks, traffic accident investigations, and citizens’ arrests, where an arrest has been made and the videotaping equipment has not been activated by blue lights, the failure by the arresting officer to produce the videotapes required by this section is not alone a ground for dismissal. However, as soon as videotaping is practicable in these circumstances, videotaping must begin and conform with the provisions of this section.

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Related

State v. Henkel
774 S.E.2d 458 (Supreme Court of South Carolina, 2015)
State v. Taylor
768 S.E.2d 71 (Court of Appeals of South Carolina, 2014)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
746 S.E.2d 347, 404 S.C. 626, 2013 WL 3456562, 2013 S.C. App. LEXIS 184, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-henkel-scctapp-2013.