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State v. Collins10/12/2004
The Defendant, Christopher Collins, appeals from his two convictions of operating a vehicle while intoxicated (DWD), fourth offense, and operating a vehicle while his license was suspended, and his respective sentences For the reasons which follow, we affirm.
On June 1, 2002, Officer Jennifer Sedgebeer, with the Kenner Police Department, was on patrol when she came upon the scene of an automobile accident at the intersection of Williams Boulevard and Vintage Drive involving two vehicles. She stopped and investigated the accident. Two of the four occupants in one vehicle were hurt and an ambulance was called. Officer Sedgebeer then approached the Defendant, the driver of the second vehicle, to determine if he was injured. The Defendant indicated that he was not. She detected a strong odor of alcohol coming from the Defendant. She asked the Defendant if he had been drinking and he replied that he had consumed five beers and had become confused. Officer Sedgebeer conducted a field sobriety test consisting of the eye test which revealed nystagmus. The Defendant refused additional field sobriety tests [FN1] but Officer Sedgebeer noted on the observation sheet that the Defendant had slurred speech and was unable to stand. Officer Sedgebeer placed the Defendant under arrest and he was transported to jail. The Defendant subsequently refused to submit to the Intoxilyzer breath test.
The Defendant was charged in a bill of information on August 29, 2002 with Count one, third offense DWI in violation of La. R.S. 14:98(D), Count two, failure to yield the right of way in violation of La. R.S. 32:122, and Count three, operating a vehicle while license was suspended in violation of La. R.S. 32:415. [FN2] He pled not guilty and filed several pre-trial motions. Count one of the bill was subsequently amended on March 17, 2003 to charge the Defendant with fourth offense DWI in violation of La. R.S. 14:98(E). The Defendant was re-arraigned on the amended charge and again pled not guilty. Thereafter, the Defendant filed a motion to suppress the evidence and a motion to quash the second, third and fourth DWI offenses, or predicate pleas, because he was not properly Boykinized. [FN3] These motions were denied after a hearing on April 29, 2003.
During a bench trial on July 9, 2003, following Officer Sedgebeer's testimony to the above facts, the Defendant presented three defense witnesses: his father, William Collins (Collins), a friend, Tony Strehle (Strehle), and a psychologist, Dr. Edward Shwery. [FN4] According to Strehle, he had been with the Defendant all day on the date of the accident and did not see him drinking alcohol. Both he and Collins stated that the Defendant had stopped drinking a year to a year and a half prior to the accident. Strehle testified that the Defendant had not been feeling well that day and had taken NyQuil and Tylenol cold medicine. He stated that the Defendant had taken NyQuil prior to leaving the lake to go home that night. Strehle further testified that the Defendant's truck smelled of beer because he and his friends had borrowed the truck the weekend before and had thrown beer cans in the bed of the truck. According to Strehle and Collins, the beer cans were still in the bed of the truck on the day of the accident.
*2 Dr. Shwery, who examined the Defendant after the incident, testified that the Defendant suffered various mental problems including depression and anxiety. He stated that the Defendant suffers from panic attacks but could not state whether the Defendant's psychological makeup or a panic attack caused the accident at issue.
The trial court found the Defendant guilty of fourth offense DWI (count one) and driving with a suspended license (count three) and not guilty of failing to yield the right of way (cou
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