State v. Minnifield

727 So. 2d 1207, 1999 WL 18514
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedJanuary 20, 1999
Docket31,527-KA
StatusPublished
Cited by19 cases

This text of 727 So. 2d 1207 (State v. Minnifield) 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. Minnifield, 727 So. 2d 1207, 1999 WL 18514 (La. Ct. App. 1999).

Opinion

727 So.2d 1207 (1999)

STATE of Louisiana, Appellee,
v.
Mac MINNIFIELD, Appellant.

No. 31,527-KA.

Court of Appeal of Louisiana, Second Circuit.

January 20, 1999.

*1209 Bobby L. Culpepper & Associates by Bobby L. Culpepper, Counsel for Appellant.

Richard Ieyoub, Attorney General, Robert W. Levy, District Attorney, John F.K. Belton, Assistant District Attorney, Counsel for Appellee.

Before HIGHTOWER and PEATROSS, JJ., and PRICE, J. Pro Tem.

PEATROSS, J.

On January 21, 1998, Defendant, Mac Minnifield ("Minnifield"), was convicted by a jury of DWI, Fourth Offense, in violation of La. R.S. 14:98. He was sentenced by the trial court on February 3, 1998, to 15 years at hard labor, with 3 of the years to be served without benefit of probation, parole or suspension of sentence. Minnifield has appealed both the conviction and the sentence, urging 12 assignments of error. For the following reasons, we affirm both the conviction and the sentence.

FACTS

A little before midnight on October 18, 1996, after exiting Interstate 20, eastbound, Minnifield was stopped by Deputy Chad Alexander of the Lincoln Parish Sheriff's Department for improper lane usage. Deputy Alexander testified that he stopped Minnifield because he had observed Minnifield's vehicle cross the fog line (the outside white boundary line) on Interstate 20 three times prior to exiting the interstate. When Deputy Alexander asked Minnifield to produce his driver's license, Minnifield claimed not to have it with him and advised Deputy Alexander that his name was "Larry Minnifield." Deputy Alexander observed that Minnifield was staggering and swaying as he made his way down the length of the car to its rear where the deputy was standing. He detected *1210 a strong odor of some type of alcoholic beverage on Minnifield's breath when he spoke.

Deputy Alexander called Deputy Jim Stephens to the scene to administer two field sobriety tests, an alphabet test and the horizontal gaze nystagmus test (HGN), which he testified Minnifield failed. According to Deputy Stephens, Minnifield slurred through his recital of the alphabet, missing several letters. The HGN test indicated that Minnifield was under the influence of alcohol. Deputy Alexander then placed Minnifield under arrest and read him his Miranda rights.

Minnifield was then transported by Deputy Alexander to the corrections facility where he was identified by another officer as Mac Minnifield and not "Larry Minnifield." Minnifield refused to blow a sufficient amount of air into the Intoxilyzer machine for it to register and his attempts were, therefore, recorded as a refusal to submit to the test. No other tests were performed. Minnifield was charged with DWI, Fourth Offense.

DISCUSSION

Sufficiency of Evidence

Minnifield complains, among many other things, that the jury was not presented with sufficient evidence by the State on which to base a guilty verdict. Although Minnifield did not file a motion for post-verdict judgment of acquittal pursuant to La.C.Cr.P. art. 821, this court still considers sufficiency arguments. State v. Green, 28,994 (La.App.2d Cir.2/26/97), 691 So.2d 1273.

La. R.S. 14:98 provides, in pertinent part:

A. (1) The crime of operating a vehicle while intoxicated is the operating of any motor vehicle, aircraft, watercraft, vessel, or other means of conveyance when:
(a) The operator is under the influence of alcoholic beverages; or
(b) The operator's blood alcohol concentration is 0.10 percent or more by weight based on grams of alcohol per one hundred cubic centimeters of blood ...

Since Minnifield refused to take a breath test which would measure his blood alcohol level, the State relied on subsection (A)(1)(a) of the statute.

Under Jackson v. Virginia, 443 U.S. 307, 99 S.Ct. 2781, 61 L.Ed.2d 560 (1979), the proper standard of appellate review for a sufficiency of evidence claim is whether, after viewing the evidence in the light most favorable to the prosecution, any rational trier of fact could have found the essential elements of the crime beyond a reasonable doubt. State v. Bellamy, 599 So.2d 326 (La.App. 2d Cir.1992), writ denied, 605 So.2d 1089 (La. 1992).

The Jackson standard is applicable in cases involving both direct and circumstantial evidence. An appellate court reviewing the sufficiency of evidence in such cases must resolve any conflict by viewing that evidence in the light most favorable to the prosecution. When the evidence is thus viewed, the facts established by the direct evidence or inferred from the circumstances must be sufficient for a rational trier of fact to conclude beyond a reasonable doubt that defendant was guilty of every essential element of the crime. State v. Sutton, 436 So.2d 471 (La.1983); State v. Lott, 535 So.2d 963 (La.App. 2d Cir.1988).

In order to convict an accused of driving while intoxicated, the prosecution need only prove that defendant was under the influence of alcohol or drugs. State v. Courtney, 30,629 (La.App.2d Cir.5/13/98), 714 So.2d 176; State v. Edwards, 591 So.2d 748 (La.App. 1st Cir.1991), writ denied, 94-0452 (La.6/21/96), 675 So.2d 1072; State v. Iles, 96-256 (La.App. 3d Cir.11/6/96), 684 So.2d 38. Some behavioral manifestations, independent of any scientific test, are sufficient to support a charge of driving while intoxicated. Courtney, supra; State v. Neilson, 27,239 (La. App.2d Cir.8/23/95), 660 So.2d 130; State v. Pitre, 532 So.2d 424 (La.App. 1st Cir.1988), writ denied, 538 So.2d 590 (La.1989). It is not necessary that a conviction of DWI be based upon a blood or breath alcohol test, and the observations of an arresting officer may be sufficient to establish defendant's guilt. Intoxication is an observable condition about which a witness may testify. State v. Allen, 440 So.2d 1330 (La.1983).

*1211 Deputy Alexander testified that he observed Minnifield weave out of his lane three times on Interstate 20 before being pulled over. When Minnifield got out of his car, he was staggering, gave the officer a false name and his breath smelled strongly of alcoholic beverages. Deputy Stephens also testified that Minnifield's eyes were bloodshot, his speech was slurred, he was swaying while he attempted to stand erect and his breath had a strong odor of alcoholic beverages. According to Deputy Stephens, Minnifield failed the HNG test and slurred his recital of the alphabet, missing several letters. Both deputies testified that Minnifield refused to blow a sufficient sample of air into the Intoxilyzer chemical testing machine.

The jury found the testimony of the law enforcement officers regarding Minnifield's sobriety to be credible. The officers' testimony, coupled with Minnifield's refusal to submit to a breath test, are incompatible with Minnifield's theory that a combination of sleepiness and heart medication/problems caused his bizarre behavior that day. The jury's decision to credit the officers' testimonies and not Minnifield's was within their discretion.

Minnifield also alleges that the evidence was insufficient to convict him of DWI, Fourth Offense, because the boykinization colloquy of his 1990 predicate offense in docket No. 33,552, State of Louisiana v. Mac Minnifield, makes no indication that he desired to give up his constitutional rights and, therefore, is not sufficient as a predicate offense.

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Bluebook (online)
727 So. 2d 1207, 1999 WL 18514, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-minnifield-lactapp-1999.