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[T] State v. Elsberry4/30/2003
Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Boone County, Steven J. Oeth, District Associate Judge.
Defendant appeals from the judgment and sentenced entered upon his conviction for operating while intoxicated. AFFIRMED.
Douglas Elsberry appeals from the judgment and sentence entered following his conviction for operating while intoxicated in violation of Iowa Code section 321J.2 (2001). He contends the district court erroneously denied his motion to suppress and determined his guilt upon insufficient evidence. We find no merit in his claims and affirm.
I. Background Facts and Proceedings.
In the early morning hours of September 9, 2001, Deputy Matthew Mardesen received a report of a vehicle in a ditch in rural Boone County. He responded and discovered a red pickup in the ditch of the road. The pickup was missing a tire and there was a mark on the windshield indicating that the driver's head had struck it. Computer records revealed the vehicle was registered to the defendant.
Deputy Mardesen went to Elsberry's house and knocked on the door. Eventually, Elsberry answered. Deputy Mardesen asked Elsberry about the vehicle in the ditch. Elsberry informed the deputy he drove the vehicle into the ditch after falling asleep at the wheel and then walked home. Elsberry indicated he had been at home for about half an hour.
Deputy Mardesen detected an odor of alcohol emanating from Elsberry and observed that his eyes were bloodshot and watery. Mardesen asked Elsberry whether he had been drinking. He told Mardesen that he had been at the beer tent in Boone. He also admitted to having one beer at home during the half hour preceding Mardesen's arrival.
At Mardesen's request, Elsberry submitted to three standardized field sobriety tests: the horizontal gaze nystagmus test, the walk and turn, and the one-leg stand. Elsberry failed all three tests. He then submitted to a preliminary breath test that registered over the legal limit. Based on the foregoing, Elsberry was arrested and transported to the Boone Police Department. At the police department, Mardesen invoked the implied consent procedure. Elsberry consented to a breath test which revealed an alcohol concentration of .155.
The State charged Elsberry with operating while intoxicated. The State alleged defendant operated a motor vehicle while under the influence of an alcoholic beverage or, in the alternative, while having a blood alcohol concentration of 0.10. Defendant moved to suppress "all evidence obtained on the evening in question." The district court denied the motion. The parties agreed to a bench trial on the minutes of testimony and the transcript from the suppression hearing. The district court found Elsberry guilty of operating while intoxicated and sentenced him. He appeals.
II. Motion to Suppress.
Elsberry contends the district court erred in denying his motion to suppress. He contends Deputy Mardesen did not comply with Iowa's implied consent statute in two respects. First, he argues the deputy did not have reasonable grounds to request a breath test. Second, he alleges the officer administered the breath test before obtaining his consent.
We first address whether Deputy Mardesen had legal grounds to invoke implied consent. Iowa Code section 321J.6, Iowa's implied consent law, provides authority for chemical testing of bodily substances from persons suspected of driving while intoxicated. The statute provides in relevant part:
1. A person who operates a motor vehicle in this state under circumstances which give reasonable grounds to believe that the person has been operating a motor vehicle in violat
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