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Rinne v. Director of Revenue3/7/2000
uspended the driver's license and the driver brought suit seeking reinstatement. At trial, the Director presented its case, and the driver never offered any rebuttal evidence or favor the appeals court with a brief. The trial court ordered that the driver's license be reinstated. The court made no findings of fact to support its order. On appeal, the Director claimed that probable cause had been established. The respondent did not appear before the court and, as in this case, failed to even file a brief. The eastern district reversed after holding the Director had made a prima facia showing of probable cause for suspension. Haas, 975 S.W.2d at 484 - 85.
When viewed in the light most favorable to the non-moving party there is ample evidence from which a prudent, cautious and trained police officer could determine probable cause existed to arrest Rinne for driving while intoxicated. Although Officer Walker and Trooper Surface did not witness Mr. Rinne driving or perform field sobriety tests, they both testified that they are trained to identify intoxicated persons, that they smelled intoxicants on Mr. Rinne and that they believed Mr. Rinne was intoxicated.
The officers' knowledge before the arrest consisted of the following: a single car accident had occurred, odors of intoxicants emanated from the driver's breath, and the driver admitted that he had been the only person in the car and that he had been drinking. These facts, when viewed in the light most favorable to the Director, and ignoring contrary inferences such as Rinne's statements because of his injuries, establish probable cause for the arrest. A prudent, cautious and trained police officer would infer that Rinne had been driving in violation of the blood alcohol limit. The evidence here was clearly sufficient to show probable cause for the arrest and constituted prima facia case for suspension. Halmich v. Director of Revenue, 967 S.W.2d 693, 695 (Mo.App. 1998).
CONCLUSION
The judgment of the trial court should be reversed and the case remanded for trial.
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