State v. Kuhl

741 N.W.2d 701, 16 Neb. Ct. App. 127
CourtNebraska Court of Appeals
DecidedNovember 6, 2007
DocketA-06-1393
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 741 N.W.2d 701 (State v. Kuhl) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Nebraska Court of Appeals primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
State v. Kuhl, 741 N.W.2d 701, 16 Neb. Ct. App. 127 (Neb. Ct. App. 2007).

Opinion

741 N.W.2d 701 (2007)
16 Neb. App. 127

STATE of Nebraska, appellee,
v.
Stephen C. KUHL, appellant.

No. A-06-1393.

Court of Appeals of Nebraska.

November 6, 2007.

*705 Steven Lefler, of Lefler Law Office, Omaha, for appellant.

Paul D. Kratz, Omaha City Attorney, Martin J. Conboy III, Omaha City Prosecutor, and J. Michael Tesar for appellee.

INBODY, Chief Judge, and CARLSON and MOORE, Judges.

MOORE, Judge.

INTRODUCTION

Stephen C. Kuhl was convicted in the county court for Douglas County of speeding and driving under the influence (DUI). Kuhl appealed his convictions to the district court, which affirmed the "judgment of conviction and sentence" entered by the county court. Because we find that the county court's decisions conform to the law, are supported by competent evidence, and are neither arbitrary, capricious, nor unreasonable, we affirm the district court's affirmance of Kuhl's "judgment of conviction and sentence."

BACKGROUND

On July 29, 2005, Kuhl was charged with speeding, in violation of Neb.Rev.Stat. § 60-6,186 (Reissue 2004), and with DUI, in violation of an Omaha city ordinance.

On September 13, 2005, Kuhl filed a motion seeking an order compelling the State to provide Kuhl with (1) any modifications or repairs conducted on the "breath machine" used in this case, (2) the "`Owner's Manual' for the subject machine," and (3) the "electrical and computer component configuration, including, but not limited to, software, power supplies, processor boards, pressure switches, Z80 chips, display boards and mortar boards of the breath testing device upon which [Kuhl] was tested."

The county court heard Kuhl's motion on September 29, 2005, and we have set forth the details of the hearing as relevant to this appeal in the analysis section below. The court entered an order on October 4, ruling on Kuhl's motion. With respect to the first two paragraphs of the motion, which had requested documentation and information on the "breath machine," the court granted Kuhl's motion. The court ordered the State to produce, on or before October 26, documentation regarding modifications and repairs on the machine used to obtain a breath sample from Kuhl in this case at the time of his arrest as well as the owner's manual and any other operator's or usage manuals relating to the machine.

With respect to Kuhl's request that the State provide "electrical and computer component configuration," the county court noted that the State was unable, at the hearing, to provide the court with any information as to whether it or the Omaha Police Department was in possession of any such information or documentation. Accordingly, the court ordered the State to file with the court, on or before October 26, 2005, a written report advising the court and Kuhl as to whether any such documentation existed. The State subsequently filed a report that it had the owner's manual and documentation concerning modifications or repairs to the breath machine, which it would produce to Kuhl, but that it did not have the "electrical and computer component configuration" information requested.

A hearing was conducted before the county court on November 17, 2005, to determine whether any further items as requested in Kuhl's motion should be produced by the State. During this hearing, the "electrical and computer component *706 configuration" information being sought by Kuhl was described as the "source code" for the machine. The court asked Kuhl's attorney to explain further what he meant by the source code. Kuhl's attorney responded:

My understanding, Judge, is that it's the DNA of a machine. It is a computer program that tells them — the machine what to do, so you push a button, start the machine, and you get a [breath test] result of .11. There is a number of mechanical and electrical synapses that occur from point "A" to the end point, and it's — the computer — the source code is the underlying computer technology in language that tells the machine to do what it's supposed to do.

The parties stipulated that the manufacturer of the DataMaster machine at issue in this case would not provide the source code to the State. We have set forth additional details about the November 17 hearing as necessary in the analysis section below.

The county court entered an order on November 29, 2005, ruling further on Kuhl's motion. The court was convinced by the representations made by the State, and not refuted by Kuhl, that the State was not in possession of the items described in paragraph 3 of Kuhl's motion. The court cited Neb.Rev.Stat. § 29-1914 (Reissue 1995) concerning the limitation of orders of discovery to items or information "`within the possession, custody, or control of the state or local subdivisions of government'" and found it unquestionable in the present case that the State was not in possession of "anything other than what it ha[d] already produced." Accordingly, aside from the items already produced by the State, the court denied Kuhl's motion as to all other remaining production sought by his motion.

Trial was held before the county court beginning on January 18, 2006. The evidence shows that on May 12, 2005, at approximately 9:40 p.m., Omaha police officer Michael Joseph Frank was sitting in his cruiser, operating stationary radar, when his attention was drawn to a 1999 Subaru Forester. Frank estimated that the Subaru was traveling at approximately 45 miles per hour in a 30-mile-per-hour zone and confirmed its speed of 44 miles per hour with radar. Frank radioed ahead to Officer Steven J. Garcia, another Omaha police officer, identified the Subaru, and advised Garcia that it was traveling at an excessive rate of speed. Garcia caught up to the Subaru and pulled it over for speeding.

After stopping the Subaru, Garcia administered a number of field sobriety tests to Kuhl, and Kuhl failed to perform some of the tests up to Garcia's expectations. Garcia placed Kuhl under arrest for speeding and suspicion of DUI and transported him to a police station. At the station, Garcia read Kuhl a postarrest chemical test advisement form, and both Garcia and Kuhl signed the form. Garcia observed Kuhl perform a breath test and then cited Kuhl for speeding and DUI.

Officer James Brady, a senior crime laboratory technician with the Omaha Police Department, testified concerning the breath test administered to Kuhl and the maintenance of the DataMaster machine used to test Kuhl's breath. Brady's testimony established that Kuhl's breath was tested by a DataMaster machine located at police headquarters. Brady's testimony covered the specific identity of the actual machine used to test Kuhl's breath, the maintenance of the machine, the holders of various permits to both maintain and conduct tests on the machine in question, and the documentation relating to the maintenance of the machine. Patricia A. Osier, a *707 crime laboratory technician, testified to the administration of the test of Kuhl's breath, which test yielded a result of .100 of a gram of alcohol per 210 liters of breath.

Dr. John Vasiliades testified on behalf of the defense. Vasiliades acknowledged that he has not used the DataMaster machine regularly but has read the manual on the machine and kept up with the literature regarding the machine.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

State v. Oldson
884 N.W.2d 10 (Nebraska Supreme Court, 2016)
State v. Burton
Nebraska Court of Appeals, 2016
State v. Kuhl
755 N.W.2d 389 (Nebraska Supreme Court, 2008)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
741 N.W.2d 701, 16 Neb. Ct. App. 127, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-kuhl-nebctapp-2007.