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State v. Yee11/16/2001
noticed that the Colt had been reversed and parked a couple of houses back from where it had initially stopped. Raiola shouted to two kids in the garage of the house, asking where was the driver of the Colt; they replied that he was inside sleeping. Raiola then called 911 again, and within five minutes one officer was with Raiola and two were across the street. Raiola identified the car and Yee to the police.
Francisco Pizarro (Officer Pizarro) testified that as a police officer with the Honolulu Police Department (HPD) for the last ten years he has made hundreds, if not thousands, of traffic stops, and hundreds of those have led to DUI arrests. On May 24, 1998, Officer Pizarro was assigned to patrol duty in the Kahuku area, riding with Officer Greg Young (Officer Young) (collectively "the Officers"). At approximately 12:10 a.m., the Officers received a "hazardous driver call" in response to a "vehicle being operated in a hazardous manner traveling Kahuku bound on Kamehameha Highway." The Officers were dispatched to a location in the 5400 block of Kamehameha Highway. Approximately ten minutes elapsed between the call and the Officers' arrival at the location.
Officer Pizarro testified that upon arrival, he met with Raiola who identified a red Dodge as the vehicle that was being operated in a hazardous manner traveling from Kaaawa to the present location. Honolulu Police Department dispatch had given Officer Pizarro a license plate number of the "hazardous driver" that matched that of red Dodge. Officer Pizarro then went to the residence where the Dodge was parked and spoke with a female, asking her where was the driver of the car. The female responded that the driver was sleeping inside the house. The female went inside the house, and Yee came out.
Officer Pizarro testified that when Yee came out, Yee had red, bloodshot, watery eyes and a moderate odor of alcohol on his breath. Yee told Officer Pizarro that Yee had been operating the red Dodge. Yee responded "no" to a series of questions regarding whether he was under the care of a doctor, dentist, or optometrist; had any speech impediments or physical defects; was on any medication; wore a glass eye, contact lenses, or glasses; or was epileptic or diabetic. Yee agreed to take the field sobriety test (FST).
Officer Pizarro testified he administered the FST to Yee, specifically the horizontal gaze nystagmus (HGN) test on dry, flat ground, free from debris under lighting provided by street lamps and a police flashlight. Officer Pizarro explained to Yee the consequences of failing the tests. Officer Pizarro used the tip of his pen to determine whether Yee was able to smoothly pursue the pen with his eyes. Holding the pen approximately 8-12 inches away from Yee's face between his eye and nose level, Officer Pizarro instructed Yee to hold his head still and follow the tip of the pen with his eyes. Both of Yee's eyes moved in sync, but there was observable distinct nystagmus in both eyes. Officer Pizarro then established that Yee had distinct nystagmus at maximum deviation. The final phase of the HGN test established that Yee had distinct nystagmus in both eyes prior to the onset of 45 degrees. After observing that Yee had distinct nystagmus in all three portions of the test, Officer Pizarro opined that Yee failed the HGN portion of the test.
Officer Pizarro testified that he next administered the nine-step walk-and-turn test to Yee; Yee failed this test. Officer Pizarro then administered the one-legged stand test, which Yee "slightly failed." All of the tests administered to Yee were given consistent with Officer Pizarro's training. After concluding that Yee was too impaired to operate a vehicle in a safe manne
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