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Laney v. Director Of Revenue, State of Mo.9/27/2004
The driver's license of William D. Laney ("Laney") was revoked by the Director of Revenue for failure to submit to a chemical test to determine his blood alcohol content pursuant to Section 577.041. [FN1] This appeal is from the order of the Circuit Court of Barry County reinstating Laney's license.
FN1. All statutory references are to RSMo (2000) unless otherwise specified.
On February 10, 2003 at approximately 9:30 P.M., Deputy Douglas Henry ("Deputy Henry") of the Barry County Sheriff's Department was driving south on FR 1070 in Barry County when he encountered a Ford Ranger pickup. The pickup was off of the road, facing north, and stuck in a creek. Deputy Henry approached the pickup and spoke to the driver, Laney. Deputy Henry noticed that Laney's speech was slurred and that there was a strong odor of alcohol coming from the pickup. When Deputy Henry asked Laney if he had been drinking, Laney said, "Yes, I am drunker than hell." When asked where he was coming from, Laney replied that he had come from Our Place Bar in Seligman, Missouri. Deputy Henry then asked Laney to turn off the pickup and step out of the vehicle.
Deputy Henry asked Laney if he would submit to field sobriety tests, to which Laney replied that he was drunk. Deputy Henry then asked Laney if he would take a breath test at the jail, to which Laney replied, "No I said I was drunk." At 10:04 P.M., Deputy Henry placed Laney under arrest for driving while intoxicated and transported him to the Barry County Jail.
Deputy Henry's Offense/Incident Report was introduced in evidence. It reflected that Deputy Henry asked Laney at the scene if he would take field sobriety tests, but Laney responded, "No I said I was drunk." According to that Report, Deputy Henry then placed Laney under arrest for driving while intoxicated, transported him to the Barry County Jail, and "asked him again to submit to a chemical breath test and he refused again."
The Alcohol Influence Report completed by Deputy Henry documented that at 10:30 P.M. he informed Laney that he was under arrest for driving while intoxicated, that Laney was being requested to take a test to determine the alcohol/drug content of his blood, if he refused to take the test his driver's license would be revoked for one year, and evidence of his refusal may be used against him in prosecutions in a court of law. Deputy Henry checked two boxes on that form indicating that Laney refused the test.
On May 9, 2003, the Director informed Laney that his driving privileges were revoked, effective May 27, 2003, for failure to submit to a chemical test to determine his blood alcohol content, pursuant to Section 577.041. Laney filed a petition to set aside the revocation of his driver's license on May 28, 2003, claiming that he did not refuse to submit to the chemical test. A hearing was held on July 28, 2003. The Director entered the certified records of *352 the Missouri Department of Revenue into evidence, including Deputy Henry's incident report and the Alcohol Influence Report. Laney testified that he did not believe that he refused to take a chemical test because he told Deputy Henry that he was drunk, and he believed that he did not need to take a breathalyzer if he admitted that he was intoxicated. Laney further testified that he did not understand the consequences of his actions for refusing to take the chemical test. On cross-examination, Laney admitted that when Deputy Henry asked him to take a chemical test, he said that he was all ready drunk.
The trial court entered its judgment on August 22, 2003. The trial court found that Laney was stopped and arrested, and that Deputy Henry had reasonable grounds to believe that Laney was driving a motor vehicle while intoxicated. The trial court also found that
[Lan
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