Tuttle v. State

502 S.E.2d 355, 232 Ga. App. 530, 98 Fulton County D. Rep. 2171, 1998 Ga. App. LEXIS 736
CourtCourt of Appeals of Georgia
DecidedMay 12, 1998
DocketA98A0119
StatusPublished
Cited by14 cases

This text of 502 S.E.2d 355 (Tuttle v. State) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Georgia primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Tuttle v. State, 502 S.E.2d 355, 232 Ga. App. 530, 98 Fulton County D. Rep. 2171, 1998 Ga. App. LEXIS 736 (Ga. Ct. App. 1998).

Opinion

Johnson, Judge.

After a jury trial, Charles Tuttle was found guilty of driving under the influence of alcohol to the extent that it was less safe to drive and driving the wrong way on a one-way street. See OCGA §§ 40-6-391 (a) (1); 40-6-47. He appeals from the conviction entered *531 on the DUI charge.

1. Tuttle challenges the sufficiency of the evidence to support his DUI conviction.

On appeal, we view the evidence in a light most favorable to support the verdict, and an appellant no longer enjoys the presumption of innocence; moreover, this Court determines the sufficiency of and does not weigh the evidence or determine witness credibility. Tanner v. State, 225 Ga. App. 702, 703 (484 SE2d 766) (1997). So viewed, the evidence shows a police officer observed Tuttle at 3:40 a.m. traveling in the wrong direction on a one-way street. The officer ordered Tuttle to stop. When the officer approached Tuttle’s car, he detected a heavy odor of alcohol. He also noticed that Tuttle’s eyes were glassy and glazed over, and his speech was slurred. The officer asked Tuttle if he had been drinking, to which Tuttle replied that he had one beer several hours earlier. At the officer’s request, Tuttle stepped out of the car. According to the officer, Tuttle appeared to have difficulty walking. He walked with an uneven gait and “stumbled over his own feet.”

Tuttle was given several field sobriety tests. He failed all six parts of the horizontal gaze nystagmus (“HGN”) test. When asked to perform the walk and turn test, Tuttle stepped off the line twice and did not turn properly. While performing the one-leg stand test, Tuttle raised his arms for balance, contrary to the officer’s instructions. The officer, who was a four-year veteran of the police department’s special DUI task force and had made approximately 700 DUI arrests in his career, concluded from his observations and Tuttle’s performance on the field tests that Tuttle was too impaired to drive. The evidence was sufficient for a rational trier of fact to find beyond a reasonable doubt that Tuttle was guilty of being a less safe driver due to the influence of alcohol. See Kovacs v. State, 227 Ga. App. 870, 872 (1) (490 SE2d 539) (1997).

2. Tuttle contends the trial court erred in quashing his subpoena for production of documents served upon the arresting officer. Before trial, Tuttle requested the officer to produce: (a) any and all videotapes made of Tuttle before, during, and after his arrest, and any and all documents the officer produced as a result of the stop and arrest; (b) any and all training materials the officer used while receiving training in DUI detection and testing; (c) any and all books he read relating to DUI detection and testing; and (d) copies of the reports of the five incidents written up immediately before and the five incidents immediately after Tuttle’s arrest. The state moved to quash the subpoena claiming it sought irrelevant information and was overly broad, unreasonable and oppressive. Tuttle responded that the information sought was relevant to his defense. The trial court granted the state’s motion.

“The defense must make a prima facie showing that the *532 requested materials are relevant to his defense and that he has a right to the materials, and the trial court may properly quash an unreasonable and oppressive subpoena.” (Citations and punctuation omitted.) Wingfield v. State, 229 Ga. App. 75, 83 (5) (493 SE2d 235) (1997); see OCGA § 24-10-22 (b) (1). Furthermore, the defendant must show that there is a reasonable probability that, had the requested materials been provided to him, the outcome of the trial would have been different. Id.

(a) Videotapes and arrest documents. As Tuttle concedes on appeal, the question of whether the officer should have been required to produce a videotape of the arrest is moot because no videotape was made. Because Tuttle makes no argument in his appellate brief regarding other documents the officer might have made related to the stop and arrest, any issue related to non-production of those records is deemed abandoned. See generally Boatright v. State, 192 Ga. App. 112, 119 (10) (385 SE2d 298) (1989).

(b) DUI training materials. Tuttle states that the requested training materials would have allowed him to impeach the officer’s credibility and reduce the weight of his testimony regarding the accuracy of the field tests. However, the officer testified that he did not have any DUI field test training materials in his possession. Thus, he had nothing to produce in this regard.

(c) All books and materials the officer read regarding DUI detection and testing. Tuttle claims this information was relevant to the officer’s credibility and the weight to be given his testimony. We do not agree that materials the officer read on the issue of DUI detection were relevant to Tuttle’s guilt or innocence. Even assuming arguendo these materials were relevant, Tuttle presents no grounds for reversal. At trial, Tuttle cross-examined the officer as to the proper procedures for conducting the field tests and whether those procedures were followed. Tuttle has not shown how his not having materials the officer read concerning DUI field testing harmed his defense. See Frost v. State, 200 Ga. App. 267, 271 (4) (407 SE2d 765) (1991) (harm as well as error must be shown for reversal based on trial court quashing subpoena). Tuttle has not met his burden of showing there was a reasonable probability that had the materials been produced, the outcome of the trial would have been different. See Wingfield, supra.

(d) Copies of officer’s reports of incidents before and after Tuttle’s arrest. Tuttle maintains these reports are relevant to the officer’s credibility. An officer’s reports of other arrests have no relevance to the guilt or innocence of the defendant, and the trial court is absolutely correct to deny the defendant access to them. Taylor v. State, 172 Ga. App. 827 (1) (324 SE2d 788) (1984) (defendant not entitled to production of arresting officer’s reports of other DUI suspects for *533 credibility purposes). The trial court did not abuse its discretion in quashing the subpoena. See Wingfield, supra; see generally Plante v. State, 203 Ga. App. 33, 34 (1) (416 SE2d 316) (1992).

3. Tuttle argues the trial court erred in denying his motion to exclude the HGN test results because the officer who administered the test: had no formal training in administering field sobriety tests; administered the HGN test while Tuttle was sitting instead of standing, in contravention of law enforcement guidelines; could only estimate the angle of onset of nystagmus; and admitted that the test was only 77 percent accurate.

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Bluebook (online)
502 S.E.2d 355, 232 Ga. App. 530, 98 Fulton County D. Rep. 2171, 1998 Ga. App. LEXIS 736, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/tuttle-v-state-gactapp-1998.