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State v. Benoit9/28/2004
The Defendant, Tenna J. Benoit, appeals from his conviction of third offense driving while intoxicated (DWI). We affirm the conviction and remand.
On March 6, 2001, the Defendant was charged with third offense DWI, a violation of La.R.S. 14:98, R.S. 14:98 D. He pled not guilty at arraignment on April 3, 2001. On June 18, 2001, the trial judge denied his motion to suppress the evidence. The Defendant then filed a writ application with this Court from the denial of the motion to suppress the evidence. We granted the writ, reversed the conviction, and remanded. See: State v. Benoit, 01-810 (La.App. 5th Cir.8/21/01). The Louisiana Supreme Court reversed that ruling, reinstated the trial judge's denial of the Defendant's motion, and remanded the matter to the trial court for further proceedings. See: State v. Benoit, 01-2712 (La.5/14/02), 817 So.2d 11.
On February 24, 2003, the case was tried before a six-person jury which found the Defendant guilty as charged. The Defendant filed a motion for new trial which was denied on February 26, 2003. On April 23, 2003, the trial judge sentenced the Defendant to imprisonment at hard labor for three years and suspended all but thirty days. [FN1] Next, the Defendant's motion for appeal was granted.
According to Jefferson Parish Sheriff's Office Deputy Russell J. Blanchard, III, on October 12, 2000 he was stopped in the center lane for a red light at Ames Boulevard. While waiting for the light to change, he observed that the driver of a white Ford pickup truck in the right lane was not wearing his seatbelt. Deputy Blanchard motioned several times to the driver, later identified as the Defendant, to put on his seatbelt. The Defendant looked at the Deputy and waved, and then proceeded through the intersection when the light turned green.
Deputy Blanchard followed the vehicle. When he saw that the Defendant made no attempt to put on his seatbelt, he stopped the Defendant and instructed him to exit the vehicle. The Defendant slowly exited the vehicle. The deputy observed that the Defendant was unsteady on his feet and had to grab onto his truck because he lost his balance. When the deputy got near the Defendant, he detected the smell of alcohol on his breath. Also, he also noticed that the Defendant's speech was slurred when he spoke.
Based on these observations, Deputy Blanchard asked the Defendant if he had been drinking any type of alcoholic beverage that night. The Defendant told him that he had just left a friend's house where he had consumed approximately three 12-ounce beers. The deputy asked the Defendant to submit to three standardized field sobriety tests: the horizontal gaze nystagmus (HGN) test, the walk and turn test, and the one-leg stand test. The Defendant agreed. The deputy also asked the Defendant if he had any physical defects and the Defendant said only that he had asthma.
Deputy Blanchard first administered the HGN test, explaining that if a person was under the influence of alcohol or certain types of narcotics, the person's eyes had a tendency to jerk involuntarily, and that there were six points of intoxication or impairment that he had been trained to observe in administering the test. The deputy testified that both of the Defendant's eyes jerked and that all six criteria for intoxication were present.
Deputy Blanchard next conducted the walk and turn test, which consisted of requiring the person to put his left foot on a solid white line on the road, raise his right foot and put it in front of his left foot, touch his heel to his toe, all the time keeping his hands to his side. After nine steps, the subject of the test is told to take a small pivot step and go back the same way, counting as he moves. The deputy stated that the Defendant was unable to keep his stance, ke
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