State v. MacK

903 S.W.2d 623, 1995 Mo. App. LEXIS 1334, 1995 WL 433756
Missouri Court of Appeals·Decided July 25, 1995·No. WD 49736·Published·Cited by 26 cases

Opinion

FENNER, Chief Judge.

Kenneth Edward Mack appeals from his conviction of driving while intoxicated and driving while his license was revoked pursuant to sections 577.010 and 302.321, RSMo 1993, 1 respectively, after trial by jury. Appellant alleges the following points of error: (1) the state failed to establish venue and jurisdiction, therefore appellant’s motion for judgment of acquittal at the close of the state’s evidence should have been granted; (2) appellant’s driving record was improperly admitted into evidence; (3) appellant’s motion for mistrial should have been granted after allegedly improper references to appellant’s efforts to invoke his Fifth Amendment right to remain silent were made on the witness stand by Officer Sauer; (4) appellant’s Batson challenges to the strikes of two venirepersons should have been sustained; and (5) evidence of the results of appellant’s breathalyzer test was improperly admitted into evidence.

Viewed in the light most favorable to the verdict, the facts indicate that Officer Anthony Mak of the Kansas City Missouri Police Department stopped appellant at 60th and Prospect for running a red light at 59th and Prospect. After pulling appellant over, Officer Mak noticed that appellant smelled of alcohol and that his eyes were watery and bloodshot. After administering the “one-leg stand” and “walk and turn” field sobriety tests, Officer Mak arrested appellant for driving under a suspended license and for driving under the influence of alcohol.

Officer Mak then took appellant to a mobile D.U.I. checkpoint operating at Independence Avenue and Monroe in Kansas City, Missouri. Appellant was turned over to Officer Alfred Sauer who was operating an In-toxilyzer-5000 breathalyzer within a Winnebago that was part of the checkpoint. Officer Rodney Phillips was also present in the Winnebago and in charge of the checkpoint. Officer Phillips performed the maintenance check on the Intoxilyzer-5000 and then Officer Sauer administered the breathalyzer test and prepared an accompanying report of the test results. The breathalyzer test indicated that appellant had a blood alcohol content of .201 percent, more than twice the level of legal intoxication in the state of Missouri. Officer Sauer also advised appellant of his Miranda rights while appellant was at the checkpoint to undergo the breathalyzer test.

The ease was submitted to the jury, which convicted appellant of driving while under the influence of alcohol and driving while his license was revoked. Appellant was ultimately sentenced to 43 days in jail and a fine of $500.00 on the first count and 48 hours in jail on the second count to run consecutively with the first. This appeal ensued.

I. VENUE

Appellant contends the trial court committed error in not granting his motion for judgment of acquittal at the close of the state’s evidence because the state failed to establish proper venue and jurisdiction. Appellant claims the state never elicited testimony establishing the city, county, or state in which the alleged violations occurred. This argument is without merit.

First, while venue must be proved, it is not an integral part of the offense and thus need not be proved beyond a reasonable doubt; it may be inferred from all the evidence. State v. Lingar, 726 S.W.2d 728, 732 (Mo. banc), cert. denied, 484 U.S. 872, 108 S.Ct. 206, 98 L.Ed.2d 157 (1987); State v. Harper, 778 S.W.2d 836, 838 (Mo.App.1989). The standard by which venue must be established is whether it could reasonably be inferred by the facts and circumstances that the charged crime occurred within the trial court’s jurisdiction. Lingar, 726 S.W.2d at 732. The facts and circumstances of this case clearly allow the inference that venue was proper in Jackson County, Missouri.

*627 Further, even if the evidence is inadequate to allow venue to be inferred, venue is a personal prerogative which is waived by-proceeding to trial without objection. State v. Wood, 596 S.W.2d 394, 401 (Mo. banc), cert. denied, 449 U.S. 876, 101 S.Ct. 221, 66 L.Ed.2d 98 (1980); Harper, 778 S.W.2d at 838. An objection to venue made for the first time at the close of all the evidence is not timely. Harper, 778 S.W.2d at 838; State v. Vincent, 582 S.W.2d 723, 725 (Mo.App.1979). Similarly, a motion made at the close of the state’s case comes too late. Harper, 778 S.W.2d at 838. Appellant made no objection or challenge to the venue of his trial until the sentencing hearing. If appellant was truly concerned about whether venue was proper, there was ample opportunity to raise such issue prior to trial. The brief and record are void of any reference at all by appellant to the issue of improper venue and contain no explanation or excuse for failure to raise the issue at an earlier occasion. Point denied.

II. REFERENCE TO APPELLANT’S RIGHT TO REMAIN SILENT

Appellant contends that the following trial discourse between the prosecutor and state’s witness Officer Sauer constituted an impermissible reference to appellant’s Fifth Amendment right to remain silent:

Q [prosecutor]: What about his speech?
A [Officer Sauer]: His speech was slurred?
Q: Did you ever have any difficulty understanding him?
A: No. He was pretty much — he was very articulated [sic] with his words. He pronounced his words very slowly and very clearly, but the speech was slurred in through his pronunciation of the words.
Q: And did you attempt to ask him any questions?
A: Yes, I did?
Q: And what did he say?
A: After I advised him of his right to remain silent under the Miranda warning, the party refused to answer any questions.
[Appellant counsel]: Your Honor, I’m going to object. I move for mistrial.

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State v. MacK, 903 S.W.2d 623, 1995 Mo. App. LEXIS 1334, 1995 WL 433756 (Mo. Ct. App. 1995).

903 S.W.2d 623 (State v. MacK) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

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