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State v. Presson4/6/2005
The defendant, Steven Michael Presson, appeals his conviction for driving while intoxicated, fourth offense. He claims that the evidence was insufficient to sustain his conviction due to entrapment. For the following reasons, we affirm the conviction and sentence.
FACTS
On the evening of December 29, 2002, Officer Brian Skinner of the Shreveport Police Department observed a car accelerate away from a stop light, spinning its tires as the driver turned right from Youree Drive onto Kings Highway. The car was driven by a woman and the defendant was a passenger. The officer pulled the car over into a parking lot near "a strip of bars down Kings Highway at Youree." Both the woman and the defendant appeared to be intoxicated. The officer asked the defendant to remain in the car, but the defendant got out of the vehicle and offered to drive. After determining that the vehicle was registered in the defendant's name, Officer Skinner gave the keys to the car to the defendant and told him "You don't need to be driving." He arrested the woman and left the scene to transport her to jail. After driving "maybe a block away," Officer Skinner realized he had forgotten to record the tag number from the car. He returned to the scene of the traffic stop.
As he approached, the officer noticed that the defendant's car was facing a different direction with its lights on. He stopped at a red light and watched the defendant drive the vehicle across the road in front of the officer's car. Officer Skinner stopped the defendant and arrested him for driving while intoxicated (DWI). He chose not to conduct field sobriety testing at the scene of the arrest for safety reasons because the defendant "reeked of alcohol" and "could barely walk."
After reading the defendant his Miranda rights at the testing room at selective enforcement, the officer conducted field sobriety tests and a breath test. The defendant's blood alcohol concentration was .157 percent. The tests were videotaped, and were admitted into evidence at trial.
The defendant was charged with DWI, fourth offense. The defendant was tried by jury on May 25, 2004. The defendant claimed that the car belonged to deceased members of his family and that his female friend had been driving because he did not have a driver's license at the time of the offense. At the initial traffic stop, the defendant claimed that he got out of the car, offered to walk home if the officer would allow him to leave with his companion, and only returned to his seat when he was threatened by Officer Skinner with arrest for "public drunk." He said he rolled down the window, and the officer gave him the keys to the car before driving the woman to jail. The defendant did not remember being told not to drive.
The defendant explained that he had to move the car to get it out of a driveway, stating, "I'm not going to say that if I were to start it, I wouldn't have tried the make it home in the vehicle. But at the time I was trying to get it out of the, the car was straddled the driveway and there were people trying to get in." The defendant testified that the officer entrapped him because "he left me the keys to do , I guess, to try to get home or whatever in it." He claimed the officer set him up, stating,
I felt that the reason that he give me the keys was for waiting, because it was 30 minutes before he happened, and I don't know where he come from, he wasn't sitting at the light. Because when she straddle the car across the drive, I was facing looking for him, watching for him make sure. I don't know where. He went, made the block and was hiding somewhere waiting on me to start the vehicle and leave in it.
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