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State v. Gray5/17/2004
Charged with DUI, Jessica Lynn Gray moved to suppress the results of her breath test obtained while in custody, arguing that police had arrested her without probable cause. The trial court agreed and suppressed the results. The State appeals this ruling, contending that the trial court ignored various indicia of intoxication impairment. We hold that evidence supported the trial court's ruling and therefore affirm.
1. The standard of review is particularly critical in deciding this case. Contending the facts are undisputed, the State would have us apply the de novo standard of review referenced in Vansant v. State. [FN1] Vansant, however, stated that this standard was only to be applied "where the evidence is uncontroverted and no question regarding the credibility of witnesses is presented." Id. Where the evidence is in dispute or the credibility of a witness is challenged, the "any evidence" standard set forth in Tate v. State [FN2] applies, which provides:
FN1. Vansant v. State, 264 Ga. 319, 320(1), 443 S.E.2d 474 (1994).
FN2. Tate v. State, 264 Ga. 53, 440 S.E.2d 646 (1994).
*754 [W]hen a motion to suppress is heard by the trial judge, that judge sits as the trier of facts. The trial judge hears the evidence, and his findings based upon conflicting evidence are analogous to the verdict of a jury and should not be disturbed by a reviewing court if there is any evidence to support [them]. Second, the trial court's decision with regard to questions of fact and credibility must be accepted unless clearly erroneous. Third, the reviewing court must construe the evidence most favorably to the upholding of the trial court's findings and judgment.
(Citations, punctuation and emphasis omitted.) Id. at 54(1), 440 S.E.2d 646.
Here the evidence was conflicting as to the cause of certain alleged indicia of alcohol impairment, and the trial court found in favor of the accused on each conflict. Accordingly, we apply the Tate standard: we construe the evidence in favor of the judgment of the trial court and review the record to determine whether any evidence supports the trial court's findings.
So construed, the evidence shows that an officer happened upon a single-car freeway accident, in which Gray was the driver. Gray explained to the officer that another car had forced her off the road, causing her to hit a guardrail and careen to the other side of the freeway and hit the concrete median. Gray had cuts on her face from the impact of the accident. The officer observed that Gray was calm and collected, but that she had bloodshot eyes, appeared dazed, and was unsteady on her feet, all of which could have been caused by the impact of the accident and the explosion of the air bags in her face.
Because Gray smelled of alcoholic beverages and admitted to having had a couple of drinks, the officer decided to conduct field sobriety tests on her. He did not perform the one-leg stand or the walk and turn tests (because he feared the accident would skew the results), but he did perform the HGN test and determined that she exhibited two of the six clues of intoxication, which indicated some presence of alcohol. The results on the other four clues either indicated no intoxication or were inconclusive. He performed an alco-sensor test, which tested positive for alcohol. He concluded that she was under the influence of alcohol to the extent that she was a less safe driver, and he therefore arrested her and later performed a breath test on her while she was in custody.
Gray moved to suppress the results of the in-custody breath test. During the hearing, evidence showed that Gray's unsteadiness, bloodshot eyes, and dazed appearance may have been caused by the accident and air bags, and that the officer did not necessarily
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