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State v. Doucette4/6/2005
AFFIRMED WITH INSTRUCTIONS.
In this case, the defendant, Devrin Doucette, appeals his conviction of operating a vehicle while intoxicated, fourth offense, in violation of La.R.S. 14:98. For the following reasons, we affirm with instructions.
SUFFICIENCY OF EVIDENCE
Defendant argues that the evidence was insufficient to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that he was guilty of operating a vehicle while intoxicated. We will address this assignment first because should it be determined that the evidence was not sufficient, Defendant would be entitled to an acquittal and the remaining assignment of errors would be moot.
When the issue of sufficiency of evidence is raised on appeal, the critical inquiry of the reviewing court is whether, after viewing the evidence in the light most favorable to the prosecution, any rational trier of fact could have found the essential elements of the crime proven beyond a reasonable doubt. Jackson v. Virginia, 443 U.S. 307, 99 S.Ct. 2781, 61 L.Ed.2d 560, rehearing denied, 444 U.S. 890, 100 S.Ct. 195, 62 L.Ed.2d 126 (1979); State ex rel. Graffagnino v. King, 436 So.2d 559 (La.1983); State v. Duncan, 420 So.2d 1105 (La.1982); State v. Moody, 393 So.2d 1212 (La.1981).
State v. Williams, 03-1773, p. 1 (La.App. 3 Cir. 6/2/04), 878 So.2d 765, 766 (quoting State v. Kennerson, 96-1518, p. 5 (La.App. 3 Cir. 5/7/97), 695 So.2d 1367, 1371).
At the time of the offense, La.R.S. 14:98, in pertinent part, provided:
A. (1) The crime of operating a vehicle while intoxicated is the operating of any motor vehicle, aircraft, watercraft, vessel, or other means of conveyance when:
(a) The operator is under the influence of alcoholic beverages; or
(b) The operator's blood alcohol concentration is 0.10 percent or more by weight based on grams of alcohol per one hundred cubic centimeters of blood.
Jeff Johnson, a trooper with the Louisiana State Police, testified at trial that in the early morning hours of May 20, 2000, he was called to investigate a twocar accident. Defendant was a driver of one of the vehicles. Trooper Johnson testified that Defendant told him he was one of the drivers and identified which vehicle was his. At this time, Trooper Johnson detected a strong odor of alcoholic beverage on Defendant's breath. He testified that Defendant's speech was slurred, his eyes were bloodshot, and he was swaying back and forth. Trooper Johnson said that he performed field sobriety tests on Defendant, the horizontal gaze nystagmus test, the walk and turn test, and the stand-on-one-leg test. He testified that Defendant failed each test and he made the determination that Defendant was intoxicated and placed him under arrest. Following his investigation of the accident, Trooper Johnson took Defendant back to headquarters, where he was subjected to a breathalyzer test. The result of the breathalyzer test indicated that Defendant had a .222 percent blood alcohol content.
Defendant argues that the State failed to prove that he was driving the vehicle or that medication affected his performance of the field sobriety test or the breathalyzer test. Defendant also claims that he preformed the field sobriety test while being video taped in a manner that showed no signs of intoxication.
After Trooper Johnson obtained the results of the breathalyzer test, he conducted the stand-on-one-leg and the walk and turn sobriety tests in the office, which were video taped. Our review of the video tape showed that Defendant performed without noticeable trouble and that his speech was not noticeably slurred. However, the trooper testified that it had been more than an hour f
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