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Lambert v. State11/13/1987
As Corrected December 22, 1987.
JOHN EDWARD LAMBERT, JR., APPELLANT,
v.
STATE OF OKLAHOMA, APPELLEE.
An Appeal from the District Court of Kay County; Neal Beekman, District Judge.
Michael C. Trewitt, Ponca City, for appellant.
Robert H. Henry, Atty. Gen., Tomilou Gentry Liddell, Asst. Atty. Gen., Randy J. Malone, Legal Intern, Oklahoma City, for appellee.
REVERSED IN PART, AFFIRMED IN PART AND REMANDED.
OPINION
The opinion of the court was delivered by: BUSSEY, Judge.
John Edward Lambert, Jr., the appellant, was convicted in the District Court of Kay County Case No. CRF-86-50 of the crimes of Driving Under the Influence of Alcohol (Count I) and Driving While License is Revoked (Count II). He was fined $1,000.00 and sentenced to twelve (12) months in jail on Count I; fined $250.00 and sentenced to three (3) months in jail on Count II, the sentences to be served consecutively, and he appeals.
The relevant facts are undisputed. At approximately 3:00 a.m. on February 1, 1986, the appellant was driving on a dirt county road in Kay County, just south of the Oklahoma — Kansas border. He lost control of the vehicle, rolling the car several times. The car was severely damaged, the appellant suffering only minor injuries himself. He walked to a nearby farmhouse, occupied by Mike Barton and his family who knew the appellant, to ask for a ride home.
Barton invited the appellant inside and his wife helped clean the appellant's various cuts and abrasions. Although the appellant complained of a sore back, Barton was unable to convince him to seek medical assistance. At appellant's insistence, Barton agreed to drive the appellant home, only a mile away. Barton thought the appellant seemed drunk. It was now 4:00 a.m.
After Barton had taken the appellant home, he noticed that an Oklahoma Highway Patrolman was at the scene of the wreck. Concerned that the driver may have been seriously injured, the patrolman asked Barton if he knew where the driver of the wrecked car had gone. Barton took the patrolman to the appellant's house, telling him that the appellant seemed to have been drinking and that he had been injured.
When the two arrived at the appellant's house, Barton knocked at the front door and called out to the appellant, asking him if he was still there and if he was okay. The appellant responded by saying "yes", at which point Barton and the patrolman entered the house.
Upon entering the house, the patrolman followed Barton into a nearby room where the appellant was sitting at a desk talking on the telephone. Barton identified the appellant for the patrolman and then left the residence. By this time, the appellant had finished his telephone conversation and stood up. The patrolman then asked the appellant if he had been driving the car; if he had been drinking since the accident; and asked for a driver's license. The appellant produced a valid Kansas driver's license, admitted driving and denied having anything to drink since the accident.
The patrolman testified that during this time he detected a strong odor of alcohol; that the appellant's eyes were glossy and bloodshot; and that appellant's speech was slurred. Based on these observations, the patrolman arrested the appellant for Driving Under the Influence. He then took the appellant to the hospital in nearby Blackwell to have a blood sample taken and to have appellant's injuries treated. On the way to the hospital, the patrolman stopped
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