State v. Worachek

743 So. 2d 1269, 1999 WL 1007024
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedNovember 5, 1999
Docket98 KA 2556
StatusPublished
Cited by7 cases

This text of 743 So. 2d 1269 (State v. Worachek) 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. Worachek, 743 So. 2d 1269, 1999 WL 1007024 (La. Ct. App. 1999).

Opinion

743 So.2d 1269 (1999)

STATE of Louisiana
v.
Gerald WORACHEK.

No. 98 KA 2556.

Court of Appeal of Louisiana, First Circuit.

November 5, 1999.

*1270 Anthony G. Falterman, District Attorney, Donald D. Candell, Assistant District Attorney, Gonzales, for State Appellee.

Gwendolyn K. Brown, Baton Rouge, for Defendant-Appellant.

Gerald Worachek, Basile, Defendant-Appellant, pro se.

Before: FOIL, FOGG, and GUIDRY, JJ.

*1271 FOGG, J.

The defendant, Gerald Worachek, was charged by bill of information with fourth offense driving while intoxicated (DWI), a violation of LSA-R.S. 14:98. He pled not guilty and waived the right to trial by jury. After a bench trial, he was found guilty as charged. He received a sentence of ten years at hard labor, including eight years without benefit of parole, probation, or suspension of sentence. The trial court suspended two years of the sentence and placed the defendant on probation for two years with a special condition of probation that he attend at least one alcoholics anonymous meeting per week. On appeal, the defendant alleges: (1) the trial court erred in denying the motion to quash; (2) the evidence was insufficient to support the instant conviction; (3) the trial court erred in imposing an excessive sentence; and (4) the trial court erred in denying the motion to reconsider sentence.

FACTS

At approximately 7:00 p.m. on July 14, 1997, Louisiana State Police Trooper Oneal Wascom stopped a truck driven by the defendant near the intersection of Louisiana Highways 73 and 621. Trooper Wascom first observed the truck driving erratically while following it for a short distance on Interstate 10. Trooper Wascom noticed the truck weaving three times from the right shoulder into the left lane. When a vehicle attempted to pass in the left lane, it had to take evasive action to avoid hitting the defendant's truck. The defendant exited Interstate 10 at Highway 73. At this point, Trooper Wascom executed a traffic stop of the defendant's vehicle, which proceeded a short distance before turning onto Highway 621 and finally stopping.

Trooper Wascom observed the defendant exit his truck and lean against it. While conversing with the defendant, Trooper Wascom detected a very strong odor of alcoholic beverage on the defendant's breath. The defendant admitted weaving, explaining that he was trying to light a cigarette. Trooper Wascom advised the defendant of his Miranda rights and explained that he wanted the defendant to take a field sobriety test. However, the defendant failed three field sobriety tests, the horizontal gaze nystagmus test, walk and turn test, and one leg stand test.

Trooper Wascom placed the defendant under arrest. The defendant then requested to get something from his truck. He went to the truck, got in, and tried to hide a vodka bottle under the seat. When Trooper Wascom observed the defendant's actions, Trooper Wascom asked him to exit the truck, but he refused. Trooper Wascom and a backup officer, Deputy Joseph Mayers of the Ascension Parish Sheriffs Office, had to forcibly remove the defendant, handcuff him, and place him into the back of a police unit.

After they reached the jail, while Trooper Wascom explained to the defendant his rights relating to a chemical test for intoxication, the defendant kept standing up and attempting to grab his cigarettes and lighter, despite being told to remain seated and refrain from smoking. The defendant refused to take a breath test. Trooper Wascom issued the defendant citations for DWI Sixth Offense, refusal of the chemical test, improper lane usage, and resisting an officer.

At the trial, Trooper Wascom explained how he initially came to observe the defendant's vehicle and detailed the erratic driving which resulted in the traffic stop. He then related his observations of the defendant's physical appearance and behavior which led him to conclude that the defendant was driving while intoxicated.

The state introduced documents to establish that the defendant had two prior, third offense DWI convictions in the Nineteenth Judicial District Court, East Baton Rouge Parish, from guilty pleas entered on November 19, 1993, and a second offense DWI conviction in the Twentieth Judicial District Court, West Feliciana Parish, *1272 from a guilty plea entered on February 14, 1991.

The defendant did not testify at trial, but presented the testimony of two witnesses, his first cousin, Jacqueline Mitchell, and his mother, Evelyn Worachek. Ms. Mitchell testified that the defendant lived with her off and on at the time of this offense. When he left her home in St. Amant at 4:15 p.m. on July 14, 1997, he had not been drinking. Ms. Mitchell testified that the defendant had indicated he was going to his mother's house in north Baton Rouge to retrieve some tools and to get his pain medication because his mouth was hurting. She testified that the defendant had been given prescription medication for recent dental surgery, and she identified a paper bag, Defense Exhibit 1, containing three prescription bottles, Defense Exhibits 2, 3 and 4, which she retrieved from his truck at about 10:00 p.m. on the night of his arrest. She also retrieved the vodka bottle, which appeared to be full until she went to empty it, whereupon she noticed that the seal had been broken.

Defense Exhibit 2 is an empty prescription bottle for Hydrocodone, described as the defendant's pain medicine. The label on this bottle indicated the prescription was filled on June 30, 1997, with a quantity of fifteen tablets. The instructions on the label were for one tablet every four to six hours as needed. Defense Exhibit 3 is a prescription bottle for Librium, described as being for the defendant's nerves. The label on this bottle indicated the prescription was filled on June 27, 1997, with a quantity of only nine capsules. The instructions on the label were for one capsule three times a day for three days. However, this bottle actually contains fourteen red tablets with no markings on them. Defense Exhibit 4 is a prescription bottle for Amoxicillin, an antibiotic. The label on this bottle indicated the prescription also was filled on June 30, 1997, with a quantity of thirty-six capsules, and approximately twenty capsules remain. Defense Exhibits 2 and 3 were labeled "NO REFILLS." Ms. Mitchell testified that the prescriptions were filled about the time of the defendant's dental work.

Ms. Worachek testified that the defendant came to her home for about an hour on the afternoon in question, but she could not remember whether or not he performed any chores. She stated that when the defendant came to her home that afternoon, he did not appear to have been drinking. She testified that she had paid for the defendant's recent dental work because he was unemployed. Ms. Worachek also testified that she recognized the three prescription bottles (Defense Exhibits 2, 3 and 4) and that the defendant had left them at her house.

ASSIGNMENT OF ERROR NUMBER ONE

In this assignment of error, the defendant contends that the trial court erred in denying the motion to quash the predicate convictions.[1] The defendant filed a motion to quash all three predicate DWI convictions on various grounds. A hearing on the motion was held on January 27, 1998. After both sides made arguments regarding the documents supporting these predicate convictions, the trial court denied the motion.

The defendant contested the two November 19, 1993, predicate DWI convictions from the Nineteenth Judicial District Court on two grounds.

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Bluebook (online)
743 So. 2d 1269, 1999 WL 1007024, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-worachek-lactapp-1999.