Ubiles v. People

66 V.I. 572, 2017 WL 2313286, 2017 V.I. Supreme LEXIS 28
Supreme Court of The Virgin Islands·Decided May 25, 2017·No. S. Ct. Criminal No. 2014-0084·Published·Cited by 6 cases

Opinions

OPINION OF THE COURT

(May 25, 2017)

Swan, Associate Justice.

Appellant, Kehli M. Ubiles, seeks reversal of his convictions for driving under the influence of an intoxicating liquor and driving with a prohibited blood alcohol content. Ubiles argues, first, that his Sixth Amendment right to confront witnesses against him was violated because the People failed to present at trial the person responsible for calibrating the breath test machine and, second, that there was insufficient evidence to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that he “operated or was in actual physical control of a motor vehicle along a public highway.” For the reasons elucidated below, both convictions are affirmed.

I. FACTS AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY

On January 15, 2014, the People of the Virgin Islands filed an information charging Ubiles with driving while intoxicated, driving with an illegal blood-alcohol level, and driving without a license. An amended information was subsequently filed on September 17, 2014, charging two counts: Count One — driving under the influence of an intoxicating liquor (20 V.I.C. § 493(a)(1)) and Count Two — driving with an illegal blood-alcohol level (20 V.I.C. § 493(a)(2)). Both charges emanated from a motor vehicle accident that occurred on December 23, 2013, on the [577] island of St. Thomas. A jury trial was held on September 18, 2014, and Ubiles was found guilty of both charges. A sentencing hearing was held on October 6, 2014, and a judgment was entered on November 24, 2014. This appeal ensued.

Officer Charles was the only witness who testified for the People. Officer Charles was, at the time she investigated the accident, a traffic officer employed with the Virgin Islands Police Department. She had been a police officer since July of 2010 and was assigned to the Traffic Investigations Bureau with responsibility for investigating traffic violations, traffic accidents, and potential incidents of people driving while intoxicated. At the time of trial, Officer Charles had four years experience investigating traffic accidents. She had received training on identifying people who may be driving while intoxicated and training in administering field sobriety tests.

On December 23, 2013, Officer Charles was dispatched to an accident in Estate Contant on St. Thomas where two persons were having a verbal altercation, with one of the persons possibly being intoxicated. Upon arrival, the officer saw two vehicles on a hillside with two males “standing in the roadway.” One male, who had dreadlocks, was pacing the roadway and acting boisterously. Two photographs depicting the scene were jointly admitted as Exhibit 1.

Officer Charles interviewed Ubiles while investigating the accident. In conversing with Ubiles, she smelled a “strong odor of alcohol” emanating from him. Ubiles was asked several times to present the vehicle registration and insurance documents. However, he responded that he had called the vehicle owner to obtain the documents. Ubiles also failed to provide a copy of his driver’s license but stated that his name was “Masai Yblies.” Ubiles was “very loud and argumentative” and repeatedly accused Officer Charles of not listening to him and only listening to the other driver. Ubiles then entered his vehicle, started the engine, and attempted to drive away.

Exhibit 2 was entered into evidence. It was a photograph of the interior center console of Ubiles’ vehicle. The interior of the vehicle smelled of alcohol, and there were several cups in the center console. The cups were small and had stir straws commonly used to stir cocktails and other alcoholic beverages.

Considering Ubiles’ conduct and demeánor, Officer Charles transported Ubiles to the police station to be administered field sobriety [578] tests and a “breathalyzer.”1 Officer Charles conducted three separate field sobriety tests. First, she looked for involuntary jerking of Ubiles’ eyes by conducting the horizontal gaze nystagmus test. However, when intoxicated, the eyes will jerk as they move from left to right. The next test, the walk and turn test, requires that the person stand with his arms at his sides and his left foot on a line drawn on the flat ground. The person is required to hold this position for the remainder of the instructions and is then instructed to take nine steps such that, on the next step, the opposite foot is placed on the ground with the heel touching the toe of the foot already on the ground. The person is also required to count aloud each step out loud. After nine steps, the person must turn around and repeat the process, all while keeping his arms at his sides. The third test, the one-leg stand test, requires that the person stand on one foot with the other foot approximately six inches off the ground. While holding this pose, the person must count aloud for thirty seconds in the manner of “1001, 1002, 1003, . . . [1030].”

Ubiles failed the horizontal gaze nystagmus test because his eyes presented involuntary jerking prior to his gaze reaching a 45-degree angle on either side. He also “presented nystagmus at maximum deviation.” Officer Charles demonstrated the walk and turn test. Ubiles misstepped several times by not placing his feet “heel to toe,” stepping off the line, and raising his arms. During the one-leg stand test, Ubiles used the assistance of stationary objects to maintain his balance, swayed from side to side, and raised his arms. His actions constituted a failure of the field sobriety tests.

Due to Ubiles’ failure, he was given a breathalyzer test. The specific brand of the machine used was “Intoximeter,” and Intoximeter manufactures breath test machines that measure blood-alcohol level by sampling a person’s breath. Officer Charles was trained in the operation of the machine and knew how to administer the breath test. The printout of the test results was admitted as People’s Exhibit 4 without objection from Ubiles and later as a part of Defendant’s Exhibit 11.

At the probable cause hearing, it had been discovered that Ubiles had given the police an incorrect name. Nonetheless, given Ubiles’ dreadlocks [579] and other distinguishing physical features, Officer Charles identified Ubiles as the person on whom she administered the breathalyzer. Ubiles’ test results revealed he had a blood-alcohol content of .218. Therefore, the officer concluded that Ubiles was “heavily under the influence of some kind of intoxicating liquor.”

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Ubiles v. People, 66 V.I. 572, 2017 WL 2313286, 2017 V.I. Supreme LEXIS 28 (virginislands 2017).

66 V.I. 572 (Ubiles v. People) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

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