State v. Sanchez

296 P.3d 1133, 48 Kan. App. 2d 608, 94 A.L.R. 6th 671, 2013 WL 646301, 2013 Kan. App. LEXIS 11
CourtCourt of Appeals of Kansas
DecidedFebruary 22, 2013
DocketNo. 106,828
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 296 P.3d 1133 (State v. Sanchez) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Kansas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
State v. Sanchez, 296 P.3d 1133, 48 Kan. App. 2d 608, 94 A.L.R. 6th 671, 2013 WL 646301, 2013 Kan. App. LEXIS 11 (kanctapp 2013).

Opinion

Bruns, J.:

Dieondra Sanchez was charged and convicted of driving under the influence (DUI) and driving with a suspended license. In the early morning, Sanchez, who had been drinking, was riding in the passenger seat of her boyfriend’s car. While arguing with her boyfriend, Sanchez grabbed the steering wheel, jerked it to the right, and caused the car to crash into a concrete barrier. She walked away from the accident, but a Highway Patrol trooper found her about a block away. Sanchez consented to the trooper’s [609]*609request for a blood test, which showed that her blood alcohol concentration was .21. The trooper also discovered that she had a suspended driver’s license. Sanchez appeals her convictions, maintaining that she was not driving or operating the car when she grabbed the steering wheel while sitting in the passenger seat. We disagree and affirm her convictions.

Facts

On May 1, 2009, at about 1 a.m., Trooper Aaron McGuire responded to an accident on 1-135 in Sedgwick County. At the scene of the accident, Trooper McGuire met with Curtis Hines to determine what had happened. Hines said that he and his passenger, who he identified as Sanchez, got into an argument while he was driving. According to Hines, Sanchez grabbed the steering wheel, jerked it to die right, directed the car through crash barrels into a concrete barrier, then got out of the car and walked away. Trooper McGuire performed field sobriety tests on Hines and determined that he was not intoxicated. Hines then voluntarily filled out a statement recounting his version of the events.

Trooper Ryan Barnes arrived at the accident scene to assist Trooper McGuire. Shortly thereafter, Sanchez was located about a block away. She claimed that Hines had cut her, and she requested transport to the hospital. At the hospital, Sanchez alternated from being calm to acting aggressively. She admitted she had been drinking and consented to a blood alcohol test. Test results revealed a blood alcohol concentration of .21, which is over the limit of .08, and she was issued a citation for DUI and driving with a suspended license.

During a bench trial, Hines recanted the version of events that he gave Trooper McGuire at the scene. He testified that he had lied because he was mad at Sanchez. He further testified that neither he nor Sanchez had been drinking the night of the accident. He explained that they got into an argument in the car after he asked Sanchez to return an engagement ring, and when he tried to grab the ring, the car crashed into the concrete barrier.

Sanchez also testified that she had an argument with Hines over the ring and she denied grabbing the steering wheel. Although [610]*610Sanchez admitted that she had one glass of wine before tire accident, she claimed she drank a bottle of Jack Daniels that she had in her purse as she was walking away from the accident. According to Sanchez, she tossed tire bottle somewhere prior to making contact with Trooper Barnes.

The district court determined the testimony of the troopers regarding the version of events to be more credible than that of Hines or Sanchez. It concluded that Sanchez had grabbed the steering wheel from the passenger seat and, as a result, caused the car to crash. The district court also concluded that at the time she grabbed the steering wheel, Sanchez was under the influence of alcohol. Thus, Sanchez was found guilty of DUI and driving with a suspended license.

Analysis

Issues Presented

There are three issues presented on appeal. First, whether the district court erred in finding that while riding as a passenger, Sanchez had operated or attempted to operate tire car at the time of the accident. Second, whether there was sufficient evidence presented at trial that Sanchez’ level of intoxication rendered her incapable of safely operating or attempting to operate a vehicle. Third, whether the district court erred in convicting Sanchez of driving with a suspended license.

Operating or Attempting to Operate a Motor Vehicle

Interpretation of a statute is a question of law subject to unlimited review. See State v. Dale, 293 Kan. 660, 662, 267 P.3d 743 (2011). Determining the intent of the legislature'is the fundamental rule of statutoiy construction. See State v. Urban, 291 Kan. 214, 216, 239 P.3d 837 (2010). When a statute is unambiguous, the plain and ordinary language of the statute is the best evidence of legislative intent. See State v. Arnett, 290 Kan. 41, 47, 223 P.3d 780 (2010).

K.S.A. 2008 Supp. 8-1567(a)(3) states that “[n]o person shall operate or attempt to operate any vehicle within this state while . . . under the influence of alcohol to a degree that renders the [611]*611person incapable of safely driving the vehicle.” The Kansas Supreme Court has previously determined that “operate” as used in K.S.A. 8-1567 is synonymous with the word “drive.” State v. Kendall, 274 Kan. 1003, 1009, 58 P.3d 660 (2002). Naturally, one who “operates” or “drives” a vehicle would be the “operator” or “driver” of that vehicle.

The Kansas Legislature defined “driver” in the Uniform Act Regulating Traffic as “every person who drives oris in actual physical control of a vehicle.” (Emphasis added.) K.S.A. 8-1416. Because K.S.A. 2008 Supp. 8-1567 is part of the Uniform Act Regulating Traffic, this definition is controlling in this case. See Kendall, 274 Kan. at 1009. So we must decide whether Sanchez was “in actual physical control” of the vehicle—as its operator or driver—when she grabbed tire steering wheel from the passenger seat and caused tire car to crash into a concrete barrier.

The plain meaning of “control” is “to exercise authoritative or dominating influence over; direct.” (Emphasis added.) The American Heritage Dictionary 400 (4th ed. 2006). Here, tire district court concluded based on the evidence presented at trial that Sanchez physically grabbed the steering wheel and caused the car to hit the concrete barrier. Assuming there was sufficient evidence presented to support the district court’s conclusion, we find that Sanchez was in actual physical control of tire vehicle—as its operator or driver—at the time of tire accident.

Currently, no Kansas case has determined the scope of the phrase “actual physical control of a vehicle” in the context of a passenger. But numerous jurisdictions across the United States have held that a passenger can exert actual physical control over a vehicle by grabbing the steering wheel or by doing other things that cause the vehicle to move. See State v. Rivera, 207 Ariz. 69, 74, 83 P.3d 69

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Related

State v. Moler
Court of Appeals of Kansas, 2021
State v. Luke P. Peters
172 A.3d 156 (Supreme Court of Rhode Island, 2017)
State v. Sanchez
298 Kan. 1207 (Supreme Court of Kansas, 2013)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
296 P.3d 1133, 48 Kan. App. 2d 608, 94 A.L.R. 6th 671, 2013 WL 646301, 2013 Kan. App. LEXIS 11, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-sanchez-kanctapp-2013.