State v. Jones

714 So. 2d 819, 1998 WL 248326
Louisiana Court of Appeal·Decided May 15, 1998·No. 97 KA 1687·Published·Cited by 6 cases

Opinion

714 So.2d 819 (1998)

STATE of Louisiana
v.
Daniel JONES.

No. 97 KA 1687.

Court of Appeal of Louisiana, First Circuit.

May 15, 1998.

Laurie A. White, New Orleans, for Defendant/Appellant Daniel Jones.

Hon. Walter P. Reed, District Attorney, Covington, by Terry M. Boudreaux, Gretna, for Plaintiff/Appellee State.

*820 Before GONZALES, PARRO and GUIDRY, JJ.

GONZALES, Judge.

The defendant, Daniel Jones, was charged by bill of information with driving while intoxicated (DWI), fourth offense, a violation of La. R.S. 14:98. He pled not guilty and, after trial by jury, was found guilty as charged. He subsequently was sentenced to ten years at hard labor. He has appealed, urging two assignments of error.

FACTS

At approximately 2:30 a.m. on November 25, 1995, St. Tammany Parish Sheriff's Officer Barney Tyrney was dispatched to investigate a suspicious person in the parking lot of the E-Z Serve convenience store. Upon arriving in the parking lot, Tyrney observed a white four-door Chevrolet taking up two parking spots with the defendant slumped over in the front seat. Tyrney attempted to open the vehicle but when he was unable to do so, he knocked on the window, yelled and beat on the car until the defendant responded. Subsequently, the defendant unlocked his door and when Tyrney reached in the vehicle he smelled an extremely strong odor of alcohol.

When Jones stepped out of the vehicle, Tyrney observed that he swayed, had poor balance, mumbled, and had a strong odor of alcohol on his breath. Tyrney performed a series of field sobriety tests on the defendant, all of which the defendant failed or was unable to complete. The defendant was arrested but indicated that he did not want his car to be towed or inventoried.

According to Tyrney, the vehicle in which he observed the defendant had its motor running when he arrived and after the defendant awoke he revved its engine up and down and attempted to put the car into gear. Tyrney felt that the defendant was extremely impaired when he observed him. At trial, the defendant stipulated to having three prior DWI convictions.

ASSIGNMENT OF ERROR NUMBER ONE

In his first assignment of error, the defendant contends that there was insufficient evidence to find him guilty of driving while intoxicated. In his brief to this court, the defendant does not contest the three predicate convictions which he stipulated to at trial; nor does he contest the proof of his intoxication in the instant offense. However, the defendant does contend that he was not in operation of the vehicle as he was only sleeping in the vehicle and the engine was not running. He claims someone else drove the car near the location where he was discovered but, because the car had broken down, it had to be pushed into the parking lot and was not operational. Thus, the defendant argues that the state failed to prove that he was in operation of the vehicle.

The standard of review for the sufficiency of evidence to uphold a conviction is whether or not, viewing the evidence in the light most favorable to the prosecution, any rational trier of fact could conclude that the state proved the essential elements of the crime beyond a reasonable doubt. See La.Code Crim. P. art. 821; State v. King, 563 So.2d 449, 456 (La.App. 1st Cir.), writ denied, 567 So.2d 610 (La.1990). The Jackson v. Virginia, 443 U.S. 307, 99 S.Ct. 2781, 61 L.Ed.2d 560 (1979), standard of review incorporated in Article 821 is an objective standard for testing the overall evidence, both direct and circumstantial, for reasonable doubt. When analyzing circumstantial evidence, La. R.S. 15:438 provides that the fact finder must be satisfied the overall evidence excludes every reasonable hypothesis of innocence. State v. McLean, 525 So.2d 1251, 1255 (La.App. 1st Cir.), writ denied, 532 So.2d 130 (La.1988).

According to La. R.S. 14:98(A)(1)(a), the crime of operating a vehicle while intoxicated includes the operating of any motor vehicle while the operator is under the influence of alcoholic beverages. The statute does not require proof that the defendant was driving a vehicle, and the jurisprudence recognizes that the term "operating" is broader than the term "driving." Operating in some circumstances may mean handling the controls of the vehicle. See City of Bastrop *821 v. Paxton, 457 So.2d 168, 169 (La.App. 2d Cir.1984). In order to operate a motor vehicle, the defendant must have exercised some control or manipulation over the vehicle, such as steering, backing, or any physical handling of the controls for the purpose of putting the car in motion. It is not necessary that these actions have any effect on the engine, nor is it essential that the car move in order for the state to prove the element of operation. State v. Smith, 93-1490, p. 5 (La. App. 1st Cir. 6/24/94), 638 So.2d 1212, 1215 (citing State v. Johnson, 580 So.2d 998, 1001 (La.App. 3rd Cir.1991)).

In the instant case, Tyrney testified that he was dispatched to investigate a suspicious person slumped over in a car in a convenience store's parking lot. When Tyrney arrived at the scene, he observed a white early 1980's model four-door Chevrolet taking up two parking spots with the engine running. Tyrney attempted to open the driver's side of the vehicle. Tyrney tapped on the glass of the driver's side door in an attempt to obtain a response from the defendant, who was the vehicle's sole occupant. The defendant failed to respond. Tyrney tried to open the car doors but found that they were locked. In an attempt to obtain a response from the defendant, Tyrney beat on the vehicle and yelled that he was from the sheriff's office and that the defendant needed to wake up and open the vehicle.

When Tyrney rocked the vehicle, he observed a response from the defendant. The defendant "kind of raised up" in the vehicle, turned, looked at Tyrney, motioned with his left hand, and then attempted to shift the vehicle. Tyrney testified that at that same time the defendant "revved" the vehicle very loudly. The defendant "rev[ved] it up and down, up and down." Tyrney yelled at the defendant not to put the car in gear and to turn the car off. At one point, Tyrney heard the defendant yell back at him using curse words.

While the defendant was revving up the vehicle, Tyrney became concerned that the defendant was going to back into the roadway or drive into the building, so he got into his police unit and positioned it behind the defendant's vehicle in order to prevent the defendant from backing out. According to Tyrney, he would not have had a reason to block in the defendant's car if the engine of the car had not been running. Tyrney testified that the defendant appeared somewhat disoriented and was basically just "jerking" on the gearshift as the motor was revving. The defendant motioned for Tyrney to move away from the vehicle.

When the defendant failed to open the vehicle, Tyrney threatened to shatter the driver's side door window in order to turn off the engine and gain control of the vehicle. Tyrney did not see anyone else in the lot at this time; there was a clerk inside the store and he did not know if she stepped outside. When the defendant finally unlocked the door, Tyrney smelled an extremely strong odor of alcoholic beverages when he opened the car door. Tyrney reached in the car and grabbed the defendant with his right hand and removed the car keys from the ignition with his left hand.

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State v. Jones, 714 So. 2d 819, 1998 WL 248326 (La. Ct. App. 1998).

714 So. 2d 819 (State v. Jones) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

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