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State v. Scholl6/17/2003
Opinion Vote: AFFIRMED IN PART AND REVERSED IN PART.
Crandall, P.J. and Sullivan, J. concur.
Opinion:
Timothy Scholl appeals his convictions for driving while intoxicated and for failing to drive on the right half of the roadway. We affirm the DWI conviction and reverse the conviction for driving on the wrong side of the road.
I. BACKGROUND
Scholl was at a bachelor party where drinking was "going on." A friend saw Scholl leave the party alone and drive away in a truck around 10:00 p.m. The friend left five to ten minutes later, heading down the same road in the same direction. About fifteen or sixteen miles down the road, he found the truck off the road. The truck had hit a tree. Scholl was in the front seat of the truck. There was no one else in the truck or at the accident scene.
Sometime between 10:30 and 10:45, a resident in the neighborhood where the accident occurred arrived on the scene. He saw Scholl in the front seat unconscious. When he opened the driver's side door, two beer cans fell out and he could smell alcohol. The driver's side airbag had deployed, and there was blood on it and on Scholl.
The owner of the property where the accident occurred also came to the scene--by this time, Scholl was standing outside the truck. The property owner also detected an odor and said he could tell immediately that Scholl had been drinking. Scholl wanted to leave, so the owner helped him up the embankment to his house. When Scholl noticed a state trooper car coming up the road--they had received a call to respond to the accident about 10:30 or 10:45--he cursed at the owner for having "turned him in" and ran away.
After the troopers visited the scene of the accident, they went to the property owner's house. He told the troopers which direction Scholl had run. The troopers found Scholl hiding under a truck at a nearby home. Scholl refused to come out until they threatened to send in the police dog. One of the troopers observed that Scholl's speech was slurred, his breath smelled of intoxicant, he was unsteady on his feet and he appeared extremely intoxicated and agitated. Scholl refused to submit a blood sample, and when told he would still be charged with a DWI, School said he would beat that charge. Scholl's uncooperative attitude and injuries prevented the troopers from performing field sobriety tests.
Scholl was arrested, and a search warrant was obtained to take his blood sample. Scholl moved to quash the search warrant and to suppress the evidence relating to the blood sample, which showed his blood alcohol content over the legal limit. The trial court ultimately denied the motion. The parties stipulated to submit the case on the transcripts from the motion hearings. The court found Scholl guilty of driving while intoxicated and failing to drive on the right half of the roadway. Scholl appeals the denial of the motion to quash and to suppress the evidence and challenges the sufficiency of the evidence on his convictions.
II. DISCUSSION
On a challenge to the sufficiency of the evidence, we will determine only whether there is sufficient evidence from which a reasonable trier of fact might have found the defendant guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. State v. Thurston , 84 S.W.3d 536, 538 (Mo. App. S.D. 2002) (citing State v. Chaney, 967 S.W.2d 47, 52 (Mo. banc 1998)). All evidence favorable to the verdict is accepted as true, as well as reasonable inferences therefrom, while contrary evidence and inferences are disregarded. Thurston , 84 S.W.3d at 538. We defer to the trial court's determinations of witness credibility and weight of the evidence. State v. O'Toole , 8
Page 1 2 3 4 Missouri DUI Attorneys
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