State v. Simms

892 So. 2d 111, 2004 WL 2997607
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedDecember 28, 2004
Docket03-KA-1459
StatusPublished
Cited by9 cases

This text of 892 So. 2d 111 (State v. Simms) 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. Simms, 892 So. 2d 111, 2004 WL 2997607 (La. Ct. App. 2004).

Opinion

892 So.2d 111 (2004)

STATE of Louisiana
v.
Vernon SIMMS.

No. 03-KA-1459.

Court of Appeal of Louisiana, Fifth Circuit.

December 28, 2004.

*113 Holli Herrle-Castillo, Louisiana Appellate, Marrero, LA, for Defendant/Appellant, Vernon Sims.

John M. Crum, Jr., District Attorney, Rodney A. Brignac, Assistant District Attorney, LaPlace, LA, for Plaintiff/Appellee, the State of Louisiana.

Panel composed of Judges EDWARD A. DUFRESNE, JR., SUSAN M. CHEHARDY, and CLARENCE E. McMANUS.

SUSAN M. CHEHARDY, Judge.

Vernon Simms appeals his conviction of driving while intoxicated, third offense. He challenges the trial court's denial of his motion for mistrial and also challenges the sufficiency of the evidence. We affirm the conviction, but vacate the sentence and remand for resentencing.

On August 9, 2001 the District Attorney for St. John the Baptist Parish filed a bill of information charging Vernon Simms with violation of La.R.S. 14:98, driving while intoxicated (DWI), after having been previously convicted of DWI in St. Tammany Parish on June 12, 2001 and in West Baton Rouge Parish on June 27, 1996. The defendant pleaded not guilty at arraignment. On February 19, 2003, he went to trial before a six-person jury. During voir dire, the defendant moved for a mistrial based on a remark made by the trial judge, but the court denied the motion. *114 The jury found the defendant guilty as charged.

On June 24, 2003, the trial court sentenced the defendant to three years of imprisonment at hard labor and a fine of $2,000. The court suspended all but thirty days of the sentence, which the defendant was to serve on weekends in parish prison without benefit of probation, parole or suspension of sentence, to be completed within the next six months. The court ordered the defendant to undergo evaluation and requested that the evaluator recommend appropriate treatment. The trial judge announced she would order additional outpatient substance abuse treatment, if recommended.

Initially, the court stated that the defendant was to be placed on home incarceration, to be supervised by a probation officer, for the remainder of the sentence after successful completion of the substance abuse treatment. However, the court later stated that home incarceration would begin immediately because defendant's substance abuse treatment was not inpatient.

The trial judge also ordered that the fine and costs be paid within six months, as a condition of probation, or else the defendant's car would be seized and sold to meet these obligations. Subsequently, the trial judge remarked, "Everything has got to be done by December 3rd," which was five months from the date of sentencing.

On appeal, the defendant challenges the trial court's denial of his mistrial motion and the sufficiency of the evidence.[1]

FACTS

The State presented the testimony of a witness to the events, Javier Casiano, as well as the testimony of the arresting officer, Trooper George Castanoda.

Javier Casiano testified that at approximately 10:30 p.m. on May 12, 2001, he was traveling westbound on I-10 near the St. Charles Parish line, when he noticed a van in front of him swerving from left to right. The van veered into the left lane, struck the guard rail, swerved across the right lane, and struck the right guardrail. Casiano called 911 and drove in the middle of the road behind the van to keep other cars away from the van. The van continued swerving until it struck the guardrail again and the tire went flat.

The van pulled over and a man exited the driver's side. Casiano identified the defendant in open court as that man. Casiano said he approached the defendant, asked him to get back into his van, and told him that a wrecker was on its way. According to Casiano, he did not want the defendant hanging around in traffic because he appeared to be intoxicated. Casiano said he smelled a strong odor of alcohol emanating from the defendant; in addition, he observed that the defendant was stumbling, was slurring his speech, and appeared to have urinated on himself.

As the defendant removed a jack from the van, Casiano noticed several beer cans fall out of the vehicle. The defendant attempted to change the tire without success.

On cross examination Casiano stated he assumed the defendant had urinated on himself because he had a wet spot on his clothes all in front, from his waist down to *115 his knees. Casiano admitted, however, that the defendant could have spilled something on himself. Casiano also said he saw the right front tire on the van blow out after the defendant hit the guardrail on the right, which is when the defendant pulled his vehicle over to the shoulder.

Trooper George Castanoda of the Louisiana State Police testified that on the night in question he was dispatched to Mile Post 211.5 in St. John the Baptist Parish. Castanoda spoke to Casiano upon arrival and then approached the defendant, who was still attempting to change the tire. The trooper asked the defendant to walk toward him. As the defendant complied, Castanoda noted that he was stumbling and holding the rail as he walked. When Castanoda asked the defendant whether he was injured, the defendant replied that he was not, but that he had a flat tire while driving.

According to Trooper Castanoda, the defendant's speech was so slurred that he could barely understand him. Further, Castanoda detected a strong odor of alcohol on the defendant's person. When Castanoda asked the defendant whether he had been drinking, the defendant said yes.

After requesting the defendant's permission to conduct a standardized field sobriety test, the trooper performed the horizontal gaze nystagmus test, which detects involuntary jerking of the eye due to an excessive amount of alcohol in the body. According to Trooper Castanoda, the defendant failed three parts of the four-part test. The defendant refused to submit to any additional field sobriety testing. At the correctional center, the defendant refused to sign the Intoxilyzer rights form or to take the Intoxilyzer test.

Castanoda said the defendant never indicated that he was either diabetic or on medication. Castanoda admitted that his training included mention that diabetes can cause a person's speech to slur. He did not inquire whether the defendant was diabetic. Castanoda also admitted that, when preparing a vehicle storage record for the defendant's van, he omitted any mention of empty beer cans in the inventory of the contents of the van. However, he said he did not see any beer cans fall out of the van and, if he saw some cans lying in the road, he would not include them in the inventory.

The defendant took the stand. He testified that on the night in question, he left his home in New Orleans at approximately 9:00 p.m. to visit his daughter, who lives in Baton Rouge. He admitted that he had one beer during the course of the day, and another that evening before he left. He also admitted that he stopped at the store on the way to the Interstate, bought a beer and drank it before getting on the Interstate. He admitted that he is diabetic and takes medication for the diabetes, as well as medication for high blood pressure. He could not recall whether he took his medication on the day of the incident, nor whether he had eaten that day.

According to the defendant, as he was en route to Baton Rouge the tire blew out and he lost control of the van. Before he could regain control, the van swerved and struck the railing.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
892 So. 2d 111, 2004 WL 2997607, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-simms-lactapp-2004.