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North Carolina v. Harrell12/5/1989
The defendant appeals his conviction of driving while impaired under N.C.G.S. § 20-138.1, willfully displaying expired license or registration plate on a vehicle under N.C.G.S. § 20-111(2), and having no financial responsibility in violation of N.C.G.S. § 20-313. For the offense of driving while impaired, the trial court sentenced the defendant to imprisonment of one year, and for the offenses of displaying an expired license plate and having no financial responsibility, the charges were consolidated for judgment, and the trial court sentenced defendant to two years imprisonment to run consecutively with the initial one year. However, the two-year sentence was suspended pending five years of supervised probation beginning at the end of defendant's initial year of imprisonment.
The State's evidence tended to show that on 16 November 1987, Highway Patrol Officer Gail Palmer responded to a call of an accident on Old U.S. 52 at approximately 2:55 p.m. At approximately 3:00 p.m. she arrived at the scene and found a vehicle off the right shoulder of the highway in the ditch. Seeing no one around the vehicle, she approached and observed the defendant Billy Richard Harrell "sleeping underneath the wheel of the vehicle with his head lying in the right front passenger seat." Upon awakening, the defendant told Officer Palmer that he had driven the car into the ditch to avoid a deer. The defendant stated that the accident occurred at about 2:40 p.m. that day.
While questioning the defendant in the patrol car, Officer Palmer observed that he appeared impaired. She noted a strong odor of alcohol, slurred speech, and red, bloodshot eyes. After Officer Palmer had arrested the defendant for driving under the influence and restrained him with handcuffs, he then changed his story, saying that he was not the driver of the car and that she had arrested a "ghost." Upon further investigation of the vehicle, Officer Palmer found six Budweiser beer cans in the front of the vehicle, and she noted that the vehicle's license tag had expired in 1985.
After Officer Palmer read the defendant his Miranda rights, defendant waived those rights, and he told her that he began
drinking Budweiser at approximately 1:00 p.m. that day, consuming two beers in Stokes County and one can in Surry County. He stated that he drank his last beer at the intersection of Highway 52 and Cooks School Road, approximately five miles from the location of the accident. When asked if he was under the influence of some substance, he said "If I said no I'd be a damn liar. If I said yes --." At that point, he paused and said "No."
Officer Palmer's investigation revealed that the vehicle actually belonged to a woman in Winston-Salem. However, when a wrecker attempted to tow away the vehicle, the defendant demanded that they not tow "his" car.
Officer Connie Watson testified that she administered a breath analysis test to the defendant that afternoon at approximately 4:40 p.m. The result of that test was a blood/alcohol concentration of 0.21.
Officer Palmer also testified that the defendant later telephoned her at the police station and told her that he had been driving the car that afternoon and that he was an alcoholic. She further testified that she heard him state, at an earlier court appearance, that he had neither insurance nor proper registration for the vehicle.
The defendant did not offer any evidence. At the close of the State's evidence, the defendant moved for dismissal of all charges because of lack of evidence, which motion was denied. Regarding the impaired driving charge, the judge submitted
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