State v. Hight

810 So. 2d 1250, 2002 WL 313159
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedMarch 1, 2002
Docket35,621-KA
StatusPublished
Cited by6 cases

This text of 810 So. 2d 1250 (State v. Hight) 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. Hight, 810 So. 2d 1250, 2002 WL 313159 (La. Ct. App. 2002).

Opinion

810 So.2d 1250 (2002)

STATE of Louisiana, Appellee,
v.
Johnny R. HIGHT, Appellant.

No. 35,621-KA.

Court of Appeal of Louisiana, Second Circuit.

March 1, 2002.
Rehearing Denied March 28, 2002.

*1253 Bobby L. Culpepper, Jonesboro, for Appellant.

Richard Ieyoub, Attorney General, Walter E. May, Jr., District Attorney, Charles M. Bradshaw, II Assistant District Attorney, for Appellee.

*1254 Before BROWN, CARAWAY and PEATROSS, JJ.

CARAWAY, J.

Defendant was convicted of violating La. R.S. 14:98, Driving While Intoxicated, Third Offense and sentenced to eighteen months at hard labor, with all but six months suspended, the six months to be served without benefits. The defendant appeals his conviction, urging various errors in the trial court. For the reasons stated below, the conviction and sentence are affirmed.

Facts

During the early evening of April 3, 1998, Homer Police Department Officers Jim Faulkner ("Officer Faulkner") and Jimmy Hamilton ("Officer Hamilton") were dispatched to the scene of an accident which had occurred on Hwy. 79 in Homer. The vehicles had been moved off the highway, and into a parking lot next to Regions Bank. Officer Faulkner testified at trial that defendant, Johnny R. Hight ("Hight"), rear-ended the vehicle in front of him with his pick-up truck. During the course of investigating the accident, while Hight was looking for his driver's license and proof of insurance, Office Faulkner "smelled a strong odor of alcohol about [Hight's] person." When Hight opened the passenger side door of the truck, the officer saw several empty beer cans on the floorboard and again smelled a strong odor of alcohol. Officer Faulkner testified that while Hight was walking around his truck to the passenger side, he had to hold onto the vehicle to steady himself. Officer Faulkner described Hight as "excited" and his speech as "quick." At this point, Officer Faulkner suspected that Hight may be under the influence of alcohol and asked Hight if he would perform some field sobriety tests, to which Hight agreed.

Office Faulkner initiated three field sobriety tests. First, Hight attempted the "walk and turn" or "heel to toe" test. Officer Faulkner testified that Hight was unable to complete this test, because he could not walk heel-to-toe at any point during the test. Next, Officer Faulkner asked Hight to perform the "Horizontal Gaze Nystagmus" test, which Hight could not complete because he moved his entire head from side to side, instead of following the officer's pencil with his eyes. Additionally, Hight attempted the "one-leg" test, but could not complete it because instead of standing next to his vehicle unsupported, he had to use the truck for support. Officer Faulkner testified that since Hight failed all three field sobriety tests, and based on his demeanor, he suspected Hight was under the influence of alcohol and arrested him.

Officer Hamilton testified that he observed Officer Faulkner conduct the field sobriety tests, noticed a strong odor of alcohol on Hight and saw the beer cans in the truck, and also concluded that Hight was under the influence of alcohol. After Hight's arrest, Officer Hamilton advised him of his Miranda rights and transported him to the Sheriff's Office. Both officers testified that in their opinion, Hight was under the influence of alcohol when the traffic accident occurred.

Regarding the two prior DWI convictions, the State offered a transcript of Hight's first offense DWI, to which he pled guilty in Minden City Court on August 15, 1994. Next, the State introduced a transcript of Hight's second offense DWI, to which he pled guilty in the Second Judicial District Court on August 1, 1995. During the trial, both officers testified that Hight had disclosed his date of birth, and that they had obtained Hight's social security number from Hight's driver's license. Hight's driver's license indicated that Hight was six feet tall and weighed 220 pounds. At the State's request, the trial *1255 court took judicial notice that the defendant was a white male. The evidence of Hight's birth, social security number, size, and race was used to identify the two DWI offenses as his prior offenses.

In his defense, Hight testified concerning medical problems that may have contributed to his inability to perform the field sobriety tests. Hight said that he had trouble walking due to arthritis in both knees and a history of back surgery, for which he took pain medication. Hight attempted to replicate in the courtroom two of the field sobriety tests, presumably to show that even when sober, he could not complete the tests. He also testified that when he was arrested in April, 1998, his medical condition was worse. Hight then testified concerning his date of birth and social security number. Furthermore, he admitted pleading guilty to two prior DWI offenses.

On rebuttal, both officers testified that Hight's attempt to complete in the courtroom the heel to toe test and one-leg test looked different than his attempts on the date of his arrest and that Hight's failure during the courtroom rendition to complete the tests appeared to stem more from physical impairment, not alcohol impairment.

Discussion

In his first assignment of error, Hight argues that the trial court erred by permitting the State to correct the date of the alleged offense (from April 30, 1998, to April 3, 1998), after the trial was underway, and during the first witness' testimony. Hight argues that under State v. Ayres, 509 So.2d 763 (La.App. 2d Cir. 1987), amending the date of the alleged crime once trial has begun is precluded. The State argues that in this case, the date of the offense is not an essential element of the crime, so amendment is permitted. When the date or time is not an essential element of the offense, it is a defect of form that may be amended at any time. La.C.Cr.P. art. 468[1]; La.C.Cr.P. art. 487;[2]State v. Ayres, supra.

The date of the offense is not an essential element to the offense of operating a vehicle while intoxicated. La. R.S. 14:98; State v. Hernandez, 410 So.2d 1381 (La.1982). The elements of operating a vehicle while intoxicated include: (1) the operating of any motor vehicle when (2) the operator is under the influence of alcoholic beverages; or (3) the operator's blood alcohol concentration is 0.10 percent or more by weight based on grams of alcohol per one hundred cubic centimeters *1256 of blood; or (4) the operator is under the influence of any controlled dangerous substance listed in Schedule I, II, III, IV, or V as set forth in R.S. 40:964. Clearly, the State need not prove the date of the alleged offense to obtain a conviction for DWI. Therefore, the trial court did not err and this assignment lacks merit.

By his second and third assignments of error, Hight asserts that the trial court erred in failing to exclude statements he made and the officers' testimony regarding the field sobriety tests. Hight contends that his statements and the field sobriety evidence were obtained without an advice of rights as required under Miranda v. Arizona, 384 U.S. 436, 86 S.Ct. 1602, 16 L.Ed.2d 694 (1966). Nevertheless, our review indicates that Hight failed to make a pre-trial motion to suppress his statements, as well as the evidence obtained from the field sobriety tests.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
810 So. 2d 1250, 2002 WL 313159, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-hight-lactapp-2002.