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Wyatt v. City Of Pearl5/27/2004
On June 28, 2001, Melissa Baker Wyatt was arrested and charged with Driving Under the Influence First Offense after registering a .222% blood alcohol content, which exceeded the then-applicable .10% standard and was a per se violation of Miss.Code Ann. § 63-11-30(1)(c) (Supp.2000). [FN1] On August 7, 2001, Wyatt was tried and convicted in the City of Pearl municipal court, and she appealed the conviction to the Rankin County Court.
FN1. In 2002 this standard was lowered to .08%. Miss.Code Ann. § 63-11-30(1)(c) (Supp.2003).
2. On May 1, 2002, Wyatt submitted a discovery request to the City of Pearl, requesting relevant information concerning her case including, but not limited to, all relevant information regarding the operation and maintenance of the Intoxilyzer 5000 breath test instrument. The city responded in writing with only the information intended to be introduced at trial with no response to the additional requests by the defendant.
3. On June 5, 2002, Wyatt was tried de novo and convicted in Rankin County Court after the court ruled that the requests of the defendant for full discovery beyond the scope submitted by the prosecution was denied with no continuance offered for remedy.
4. Wyatt appealed her conviction to the Circuit Court of Rankin County, Mississippi. On April 14, 2003, the circuit court affirmed the conviction. Wyatt appeals to this Court raising the following issue:
whether the trial court erred in its ruling to exclude from Ms. Wyatt's discovery and consideration any documentation in the possession of the Mississippi State Crime Lab regarding the operation and maintenance of the Intoxilyzer 5000 breath test instrument citing shortcomings of defense counsel in direct violation of Uniform Criminal Court Rule 4.06 and the prevailing authority of the Attorney General's Office in the absence of the Supreme Court ruling.
Uniform Criminal Court Rule 4.06 is now Uniform Circuit and County Court Rule 9.04.
FACTS
5. On June 28, 2001, Wyatt was arrested on suspicion of Driving Under the Influence by patrolman Jason Ball of the City of Pearl Police Department. Wyatt *283 was then transported to the Pearl Police Department where she submitted to a breath test indicating a blood alcohol content of .222%.
ANALYSIS
6. We are limited in reversing a trial court's actions regarding discovery issues. Byrom v. State, 863 So.2d 836, 849 (Miss.2003). We may reverse only if the trial court abused its discretion. Id.
7. Wyatt argues that the trial court erred in several ways. The first argument is that the court erred in telling Wyatt that the highway patrol usually provided the technical or operations manuals when requested to do so; however, Wyatt has found information that contradicts this statement. The judge's actual words were, "I do know that if it's requested of the highway patrol, they will provide those documents." There is no relevance of the judge's statement to the issue on appeal; therefore, this argument is without merit.
8. Wyatt's second argument is that the trial court erroneously ruled that her request for discovery was not timely, citing the long pending date of the trial because the her request was made a full month in advance of trial and because the prosecutor was able to respond within ten days without requesting additional time. Wyatt also argued that the trial court erred by ruling that she failed to make appropriate objections to the insufficiencies in the discovery response prior to trial. Wyatt contends that the court's discovery rule puts the burden on the prosecutor to provide the discovery requested and not on the defense.
9. Third, Wyatt argues that the trial court erred when it found that the documentation she requested would not be relevant, citing
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