State v. Stokes

354 N.W.2d 53, 1984 Minn. App. LEXIS 3445
CourtCourt of Appeals of Minnesota
DecidedAugust 28, 1984
DocketC1-83-2029
StatusPublished
Cited by7 cases

This text of 354 N.W.2d 53 (State v. Stokes) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Minnesota primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
State v. Stokes, 354 N.W.2d 53, 1984 Minn. App. LEXIS 3445 (Mich. Ct. App. 1984).

Opinion

OPINION

LANSING, Judge.

Michael Dale Stokes appeals a jury verdict finding him guilty of driving while under the influence of alcohol in violation of Minn.Stat. § 169.121 (Supp.1983). Stokes contends that (1) the evidence is insufficient to support his conviction; (2) he was denied a fair trial because the prosecutor asked objectionable questions and made prejudicial statements; and (3) the trial court erred in admitting evidence without a proper foundation. We affirm the conviction.

FACTS

Michael Stokes cut and hauled wood for three days prior to this incident, making several trips from Hibbing, Minnesota, to the Twin Cities. When finished, he went to visit a friend, Steven Finch, who accompanied him to the Airway Inn in Hibbing.

The testimony about the events at the Airway conflicts. Stokes testified that he had one beer, fell asleep, awoke and had one swallow of another beer, and then left. Finch testified that Stokes had one beer at the Airway and then they talked for two hours.

Stokes’ sister, a part-time bartender at the Airway, said that she sold him one beer and that he left the Airway at 12:30 a.m. after telling her he was very tired. The Airway night manager said that Stokes seemed tired but sober and testified that Re fell asleep for several hours at his table. She gave him a beer at 11:30 p.m.; he took one sip and left.

At approximately 1:00 a.m., Stokes, driving home, crossed the center line and the other lane, hit a group of mailboxes, and went into a ditch before stopping. Stokes said that he awoke as the car was going end over end. The car was “totaled.”

William Lewis, at home, heard Stokes’ ear hit the mailboxes and heard debris flying. His wife, Deborah Lewis, called an ambulance. He found Stokes crawling toward the road and took him home. He asked Stokes if there was anyone else with him. Stokes said “yes” and “babbled” a bunch of names, leading Lewis to believe that three or four people were in the car. Lewis testified that he smelled alcohol and that Stokes was drunk “plus shooken up.” Deborah Lewis testified that, in her opinion, Stokes had too much to drink and was unstable due to the accident.

When Mark Chartier, a Hibbing police officer, arrived, the ambulance crew told him it was likely other people had been involved in the accident. Chartier and the crew searched the area. Finding no one, Chartier went to the Lewis residence and spoke to Stokes. Stokes first told Chartier that two people had been with him and then said there were three. Chartier smelled a heavy alcohol odor and observed that Stokes’ speech was very poor, that his statements did not make sense, and that he was “rather stupefied.”

St. Louis County Sheriff’s Deputy George McComesky arrived and searched the area again with Chartier. McComesky asked Stokes if there had been anyone else with him. Stokes denied that he had been driving. Stokes’ sister then arrived and told McComesky that Finch and his girlfriend had not left the bar with Stokes.

Deputy McComesky read Stokes his Miranda rights, after which Stokes told McComesky that he was sleeping in his car in front of the Airway and the next thing he knew the car was rolling end over end. He said he left the keys in the ashtray and that someone got into the car, drove it, and then ran away after the accident.

*56 McComesky testified that Stokes was under the influence of alcohol and had been drinking heavily that night. He stated that Stokes smelled strongly of alcohol, had slurred speech, bloodshot eyes, was unsteady, moved very slowly, and was “shook up.”

At the police station Stokes refused a breathalyzer or blood test. Stokes’ mother testified that she saw Stokes after the accident and thought he did not know what he was saying. She noticed a slight smell of alcohol but believed Stokes was not drunk. Stokes’ brother-in-law also saw Stokes after the accident. He said Stokes was “all shook up and half-conscious.”

ISSUES

1. Is the evidence sufficient to support Stokes’ conviction?

2. Was Stokes denied a fair trial by the prosecutor's objectionable questions and prejudicial statements?

3. Did the trial court err in admitting evidence without a proper foundation?

ANALYSIS

I

Stokes argues that the evidence is insufficient because the jury could only have reached a guilty verdict by ignoring all of the evidence indicating that he had only one beer and a sip of another before the accident. He also contends that his conviction was based solely on circumstantial evidence and that the circumstantial evidence does not establish guilt beyond a reasonable doubt but, rather, corroborates his testimony that he fell asleep while driving and was disoriented due to the accident.

In reviewing a claim of insufficiency of evidence, this court must interpret the evidence in the light most favorable to the verdict and assume that the jury disbelieved any testimony conflicting with the result reached. State v. Vu, 339 N.W.2d 892, 898 (Minn.1983). If the jury, giving due regard to the presumption of innocence and the State’s burden of proving guilt beyond a reasonable doubt, could reasonably have found the defendant guilty, the verdict will not be upset. State v. Parker, 353 N.W.2d 122, at 127 No. C9-83-1114, slip op. at 10 (Minn.1984). Defendant maintains that the standard for convictions based on circumstantial evidence also applies. A conviction based on circumstantial evidence can be sustained only when “the reasonable inferences from such evidence are consistent only with defendant’s guilt and inconsistent with any rational hypothesis except that of his guilt.” Hanson v. State, 345 N.W.2d 794, 796 (Minn.Ct.App.1984) (quoting State v. Threinen, 328 N.W.2d 154, 156 (Minn.1983)).

There is substantial evidence sustaining Stokes’ conviction. Stokes admitted that he was driving and that' he drank some beer while he was very tired. William Lewis smelled alcohol. Chartier smelled alcohol, observed that Stokes’ speech was very poor and that he was “rather stupefied.” McComesky smelled alcohol and observed that Stokes' speech was slurred, his eyes were bloodshot, he was unsteady, and moved very slowly. Both of the Lewises and both of the police officers thought that Stokes was under the influence of alcohol.

Stokes’ assertion that his conviction was based solely on circumstantial evidence characterizes all of the testimony of both police officers and of William Lewis as circumstantial evidence. This characterization is in error. The observations of William Lewis, Chartier and McComesky that Stokes was “unsteady,” smelled of alcohol, etc., are direct evidence of the conditions they observed. Stokes also overlooks his own admission that he was driving and had consumed alcohol. These admissions are direct, not circumstantial, evidence.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
354 N.W.2d 53, 1984 Minn. App. LEXIS 3445, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-stokes-minnctapp-1984.