State v. Shoupe

71 So. 3d 508, 2011 La. App. LEXIS 807, 2011 WL 2463204
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedJune 22, 2011
DocketNo. 46,395-KA
StatusPublished
Cited by9 cases

This text of 71 So. 3d 508 (State v. Shoupe) 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. Shoupe, 71 So. 3d 508, 2011 La. App. LEXIS 807, 2011 WL 2463204 (La. Ct. App. 2011).

Opinion

CARAWAY, J.

|, David Carey Shoupe was convicted as charged of fourth offense driving while intoxicated in violation of La. R.S. 14:98. The state then applied Louisiana’s Habitual Offender Law, and Shoupe was adjudicated a second-felony offender. Shoupe received an enhanced sentence as a second-felony offender of 20 years at hard labor without benefit of parole, probation or suspension of sentence. He appeals his conviction and sentence. We affirm Shoupe’s conviction and amend his sentence to delete all but 60 days of the parole prohibition.

Facts

David Carey Shoupe was arrested in the early morning hours of July 3, 2008, after his vehicle collided with a parked car and he left the scene of the accident in a Shreveport neighborhood. Upon locating Shoupe, the responding officers noticed that he smelled of alcohol, was impaired, staggered, stumbled and slurred his speech. When Shoupe refused to provide a breath sample for analysis he was subsequently charged with driving while intoxicated, fourth offense, on the grounds that he operated a motor vehicle “while under the influence of alcoholic beverages and/or prescription drugs.” A unanimous jury convicted Shoupe as charged on May 13, 2010. Shoupe was adjudicated a second-felony offender and was sentenced to 20 years at hard labor without benefit of parole, probation, or suspension of sentence. After the denial of a timely motion to reconsider sentence, this appeal ensued.1

| ^Discussion

Shoupe’s appeal includes an argument that the evidence produced at trial was insufficient to support his conviction. When a sufficiency claim is raised, it should be the first claim considered. Other errors are irrelevant if the evidence is insufficient to support a conviction. Hudson v. Louisiana, 450 U.S. 40, 101 S.Ct. 970, 67 L.Ed.2d 30 (1981).

Specifically, Shoupe contends that the state failed to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that he was under the influence of alcohol or drugs on July 3, 2008, and that the accident occurred because he was “exhausted.” Further Shoupe argues that an eyewitness to his condition testified that he [511]*511did not stagger “that much,” and the alcoholic smell could have been transferred from his girlfriend (who was drinking), after he kissed her good night. He finally argues that the stagger occurred on account of his bad knee, and he notes there was no chemical test to confirm he ingested alcohol.

The standard of appellate review for a sufficiency of the 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 proven beyond a reasonable doubt. Jackson v. Virginia, 443 U.S. 307, 319, 99 S.Ct. 2781, 2789, 61 L.Ed.2d 560 (1979); State v. Tate, 01-1658 (La.5/20/03), 851 So.2d 921, cert. denied, 541 U.S. 905, 124 S.Ct. 1604, 158 L.Ed.2d 248 (2004); State v. Carter, 42,894 (La.App.2d Cir.1/9/08), 974 So.2d 181, writ denied, 08-0499 (La.11/14/08), 996 So.2d 1086. This standard, now legislatively embodied in La. C. Cr. P. |sart. 821, does not provide the appellate court with a vehicle to substitute its own appreciation of the evidence for that of the fact finder. State v. Pigford, 05-0477 (La.2/22/06), 922 So.2d 517; State v. Dotie, 43,819 (La.App.2d Cir.1/14/09), 1 So.3d 833, writ denied, 09-0310 (La.11/6/09), 21 So.3d 297. The appellate court does not assess the credibility of witnesses or reweigh evidence. State v. Smith, 94-3116 (La.10/16/95), 661 So.2d 442. A reviewing court accords great deference to a jury’s decision to accept or reject the testimony of a witness in whole or in part. State v. Eason, 43,788 (La.App.2d Cir.2/25/09), 3 So.3d 685, writ denied, 09-0725 (La.12/11/09), 23 So.3d 913; State v. Hill, 42,025 (La.App.2d Cir.5/9/07), 956 So.2d 758, writ denied, 07-1209 (La.12/14/07), 970 So.2d 529. See also, State v. Guilleard, 44,482 (La.App.2d Cir.12/9/09), 26 So.3d 865, writ denied, 10-0101 (La.9/3/10), 44 So.3d 696 (same deference applies to bench trial).

In 2008, the relevant provisions of La. R.S. 14:98 read as follows:

(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 0.08 percent or more by weight based on grams of alcohol per one hundred cubic centimeters of blood; or
(c) The operator is under the influence of any controlled dangerous substance listed in Schedule I, II, III, IV, or V as set forth in R.S. 40:964; or
(d)(i) The operator is under the influence of a combination of alcohol and one or more drugs which are not controlled dangerous substances and which are legally obtainable with or without a prescription.
(ii) It shall be an affirmative defense to any charge under this Subparagraph pursuant to this Section that the label on the container of the prescription drug or the manufacturer’s package of the drug does not contain a warning against combining the medication with alcohol.
|4(e)(i) The operator is under the influence of one or more drugs which are not controlled dangerous substances and which are legally obtainable with or without a prescription.
(ii) It shall be an affirmative defense to any charge under this Subparagraph pursuant to this Section that the operator did not knowingly consume quantities of the drug or drugs which substantially exceed the dosage prescribed by the physician or the dosage recommended by the manufacturer of the drug.

[512]*512In order to convict an accused of driving while intoxicated, the prosecution must prove that the defendant was operating a vehicle while under the influence of alcohol or drugs. La. R.S. 14:98(A)(l)(a); State v. Minnifield, 31,527 (La.App.2d Cir.1/20/99), 727 So.2d 1207, writ denied, 99-0516 (La.6/18/99), 745 So.2d 19.

Some behavioral manifestations, independent of any scientific test, are sufficient to support a charge of driving while intoxicated. State v. McDonald, 33,013 (La.App.2d Cir.3/1/00), 754 So.2d 382, 386; State v. Pitre, 532 So.2d 424 (La.App. 1st Cir.1988), wiit denied, 538 So.2d 590 (1989). It is not necessary that a conviction for DWI be based upon a blood or breath alcohol test, and the observations of an arresting officer may be sufficient to establish a defendant’s guilt. Intoxication is an observable condition about which a witness may testify. State v. Allen, 440 So.2d 1330 (La.1983); State v. Blackburn, 37,918 (La.App.2d Cir.1/28/04), 865 So.2d 912; State v. McDonald, supra. A defendant’s refusal to take the breath test is admissible at a DWI prosecution; the weight of the evidence is left to the trier of fact. La. R.S. 32:666(A)(3); State v. Dugas, 252 La. 345, 211 So.2d 285 (1968), cert. denied, 393 U.S. 1048, 89 S.Ct.

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Bluebook (online)
71 So. 3d 508, 2011 La. App. LEXIS 807, 2011 WL 2463204, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-shoupe-lactapp-2011.