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Hawkins v. Director of Revenue11/23/1999
rson refused to submit to the test.
Harder v. Director of Revenue, 969 S.W.2d 340, 341 (Mo. App. E.D. 1998). "Reasonable grounds" is virtually synonymous with probable cause. Baptist v. Lohman, 971 S.W.2d 366, 368 (Mo. App. E.D. 1998). In determining whether there are reasonable grounds, the court must evaluate the situation from the viewpoint of a cautious, trained and prudent police officer at the time of the arrest. Id.
Here, Director satisfied its prima facie burden of proof supporting revocation of Driver's license. The record shows that Driver was arrested for driving while intoxicated. In addition, Director showed the officer had reasonable grounds to arrest Driver for driving while intoxicated. The officer saw Driver weaving over the solid white line three times by about two feet. Davis smelled a strong odor of alcoholic beverage on Driver's breath. He also noted that Driver's eyes were watery and bloodshot and his pupils had a poor reaction to light. Driver also swayed while he walked and his speech was slurred. Driver refused to submit to any field sobriety tests. In addition, Driver admitted that he had drunk a six pack of beer.
Based on the officer's findings, Director showed the arresting officer had reasonable grounds to believe Driver was driving while intoxicated. Driver offered no evidence rebutting nor objected to the admission of the Director's evidence. Therefore, the weight of the evidence shows the officer had reasonable grounds to believe Driver was driving while intoxicated, even though no field sobriety tests were conducted due to Driver's refusal. See, Chancellor v. Lohman, 984 S.W.2d 857, 858 (Mo. App. W.D. 1998) (field sobriety tests are not mandatory and only supplement officer's other observations). Here, the officer's observations and Driver's own statements provided reasonable grounds to support the officer's belief that Driver had been driving while intoxicated. Also, the supplemental report, which was typed, contains the following handwritten words: "stormy windy night 30 mph winds." There is no indication who actually wrote this on the report prepared by the arresting officer. In any event, this language does not change the result in this case. Here, Driver admitted he had been drinking that night and had drunk a six-pack of beer. In addition, the same report showed that Driver refused to submit to the breathalyzer test after being informed of his Miranda warnings and the Missouri Implied Consent Law. Again, Driver offered no evidence to rebut the Director's prima facie showing.
Driver has filed no respondent's brief with this Court. While there is no requirement that a respondent file a brief, Driver's failure leaves us without the benefit of his argument, if any, to support the trial court's decision. The trial court issued no findings of fact and gave no reason for its decision. Our review of the trial court's judgment shows that it is not supported by substantial evidence and is against the weight of the evidence. Consequently, we reverse and remand the cause, directing the circuit court to reinstate Director's order of revocation.
Reversed and remanded.
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