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Long v. State6/4/2003
Charles Andrew Long appeals after a jury convicted him of driving under the influence to the extent that he was a less safe driver, obstruction of an officer, improper turn signal, open container violation and laying drag. He asserts that the trial court erred in not allowing him to present the defenses of justification and self-defense to the obstruction charge. He also asserts that there was insufficient evidence to support his DUI and obstruction convictions. We affirm.
At approximately 10:15 p. m. on October 9, 2001, Officer Darren Summers of the Clayton County Police Department observed Long's minivan at an intersection. Summers saw Long rev his engine while making a wide turn, causing the rear of his van to fishtail. He said that Long also failed to use his turn signal. Summers initiated a traffic stop and observed that Long's eyes were red, glassy and a little bit watery. He could also smell the distinct odor of alcohol. In response to the officer's questioning, Long admitted that he had consumed two beers.
Summers then asked Long to submit to a field sobriety evaluation, and he agreed. Summers administered the horizontal gaze nystagmus (HGN), the walk and turn, the one-legged stand and the finger-to-the-nose tests, among others. Summer testified that Long showed positive for all six indicators of the HGN test. Long also had trouble maintaining his balance during the walk and turn test.
While Summers was instructing Long on the one-legged stand test, Long interrupted him and went into a "Tae kwon Do" stance to demonstrate his balance, but then he was unable to perform the test without swaying, putting his foot down or holding his arms out. Long was similarly unable to smoothly perform the finger-to-nose exercise. Based on this performance, Summers concluded that Long was under the influence and was impaired.
Summers then asked Long to blow into an alco-sensor device, but he refused. Nevertheless, based upon Long's performance on the roadside tests, Summers decided to take him into custody. He asked Long to face the police car and put his hands behind his back, but did not inform him that he was under arrest. Long obeyed the officer's instructions, but when Summers grabbed his arm to apply the handcuffs, Long pulled away. Summers then pushed him down on the hood of the police car. He gave Long verbal commands to comply, but Long kept pushing and wiggling in an attempt to get away. Summers testified that Long then became totally uncooperative. He began shouting obscenities and started to pull away from Summers. Summers gave Long a forearm strike to the shoulder blades to get him to comply, which was within police department policy. He said it was intended to temporarily stun Long so that he could place the handcuffs on him. He said this was an effort to ensure his own safety, as well as Long's safety.
During this period, Summers informed Long that he was under arrest for DUI. But Long continued to be "resistant, combative and argumentative," according to Summers, so he administered a second, harder forearm strike. In response, Long broke from his grasp, started to spin away from him and continued to argue with the officer. At that point, Summers struck Long with his hand, and Long fled. Summers radioed for backup and ran after him, while instructing him to get on the ground. When Summers got close enough, he swept Long's feet out from under him and pinned him with his knee until other officers arrived. At that point, they were able to handcuff Long and take him into custody.
1. Long asserts that the trial court erred in refusing to allow him to assert the affirmative defenses of justification and self-defense to the charge of obstruc
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