State v. Eppinette2/11/2003
Defendant, Kevin Eppinette, pled guilty to driving while intoxicated, third offense, a violation of La.R.S. 14:98, with an agreed upon sentence; however, he reserved his right to appeal the denial of his pretrial motion to suppress in accord with State v. Crosby, 338 So.2d 584 (La. 1976). For the reasons set forth below, defendant's conviction is affirmed, but we are constrained to vacate the sentence and remand to the trial court for resentencing in accordance with the amendment to La.R.S. 14:98(D). See State v. Mayeux, 01-3195 (La. 06/21/02), 820 So.2d 526.
Factual Background
On May 28, 2001, agents with the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries stopped defendant while he was operating a jet ski on Woolen Lake in Richland Parish. He was stopped for a routine boating safety check pursuant to La.R.S. 34:851.29. Because of his appearance and smell, Eppinette was given and failed a field sobriety test. He was arrested and later registered .118 on a breath Intoxilyzer. Having two previous D.W.I. convictions, Eppinette was charged with driving while intoxicated, third offense.
Defendant filed a motion to suppress the breath test results, urging that the initial stop was without probable cause. On the date of the hearing, defendant's attorney orally amended the motion to include a request to quash the bill of information because it charged Eppinette under the general driving while intoxicated statute under which third offense D.W.I. is a felony, rather than under the boating safety statutes under which multiple D.W.I. offenses are misdemeanors. The trial court denied the motion.
On May 8, 2002, defendant, with a Crosby reservation, pled guilty to DWI third offense and was sentenced to five years at hard labor with four and one-half years suspended, active probation for five years, completion of alcohol abuse counseling and treatment, abstinence from alcohol and controlled dangerous substances, and random drug screens. A $2,000 fine was also imposed, together with costs to defray the expenses of drug screens and probation. This appeal ensued.
Discussion
Defendant objects to what he describes as a discretionary, suspiciousless stop and seizure. Alternatively, he asserts that because the stop was authorized by the boating safety act, he must also be charged under that act.
Validity of Stop and Seizure
The Fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution protects the right to be secure "against unreasonable searches and seizures." Ordinarily, reasonableness focuses on an individualized suspicion of wrongdoing; however, the supreme court has recognized limited circumstances where the usual rule does not apply. City of Indianapolis v. Edmond, 531 U.S. 32, 121 S.Ct. 447, 148 L.Ed.2d 333 (2000).
In certain instances, the government's need to discover latent or hidden conditions, or to prevent their development, is sufficiently compelling to justify an intrusion without any measure of individualized suspicion. The court in: Veronia School District 47J v. Acton, 515 U.S. 646, 115 S.Ct. 2386, 132 L.Ed.2d 564 (1995) upheld random, suspicionless drug testing of school athletes; in Board of Education of Independent School District No. 92 of Pottawatomie County v. Earls, 536 U.S. 822, 122 S.Ct. 2559, 153 L.Ed.2d 735 (2002), the court expanded Veronia to allow random, suspicionless drug testing of middle and high school students participating in any extracurricular activity including choir and the Academic Team.
More pertinent to the present case, brief, standardized, discretionless, checkpoints of automobiles have been upheld as serving significant interests in safety. Specifically, the f
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