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People v. Bass9/1/2004
In November 2001, the State charged defendant, Alonzo Bass, with one count of driving while under the influence of alcohol (DUI) and one count of driving with a blood-alcohol concentration of 0.08 or greater. In June 2002, a jury found defendant guilty of driving with a blood-alcohol concentration of 0.08 or greater. In August 2002, the trial court denied defendant's posttrial motion and sentenced him to 24 months' conditional discharge. The court also ordered him to pay $500 in court-appointed attorney fees.
On appeal, defendant argues the trial court erred in (1) allowing the results of the preliminary breath test (PBT) to be admitted in evidence by the State on rebuttal and (2) ordering him to pay $500 for the services of his court-appointed counsel. We affirm defendant's conviction, vacate the order directing him to pay for court-appointed counsel, and remand with directions.
**464 ***61 I. BACKGROUND
In November 2001, the State charged defendant by information with one count of DUI (625 ILCS 5/11-501(a)(2) (West 2000)) and one count of driving with a blood-alcohol concentration of 0.08 or greater (625 ILCS 5/11- 501(a)(1) (West 2000)). Defendant pleaded not guilty.
In June 2002, the State withdrew the DUI charge, and the case proceeded to a jury trial on the remaining count. Troy Phillips, an officer with the Illinois State Police, testified he was on patrol on March 11, 2001. At approximately 1:30 a.m., he stopped a car, driven by defendant, for speeding. Defendant indicated he was coming from the "Grove Street," which Officer Phillips believed was a Rantoul tavern. When asked if he had been drinking, defendant stated he had two beers. Officer Phillips described defendant as having "glassy, bloodshot eyes," "a very strong odor of alcohol on and about his person," and slurred speech. Defendant agreed to participate in field-sobriety tests, and Officer Phillips administered the horizontal gaze nystagmus test, the walk-and-turn test, and the one-legged stand test. Based on defendant's performance on the tests, Officer Phillips believed he was under the influence of alcohol and placed him under arrest.
Upon searching defendant's vehicle, Officer Phillips located "an open bottle of Paul Mason Brandy under the passenger seat." Phillips noticed a "small amount" of brandy inside the bottle that was "cool to the touch." Once at the jail, Phillips read the statutory "warning to motorist" to defendant and asked him to take a breath test. Defendant agreed to do so and Phillips observed him for over a 20-minute period. Thereafter, Phillips used the Intoximeter ECIR to administer the breath test.
*1066 Richard Bright, a breath-analysis equipment technician with the State Police, testified he is required to test breath-test equipment once within every 62-day period for its accuracy. He stated he checked and certified the accuracy of the machine used in this case on March 9, 2001.
The trial court read a stipulation, stating that after defendant "submitted to a breath sample on March 11 of 2001, at 3:09 a.m., the ECIR breath instrument indicated that the [d]efendant's blood[-]alcohol concentration was .106." The State then rested its case.
Defendant testified he and Jimmy Brooks went to the Grove Street Tavern in the late evening of March 10 and the early morning of March 11, 2001. Defendant testified he may have had "a soda" but nothing alcoholic to drink because he had been sick with the stomach flu and was still taking medicine for it. After being stopped by the police, defendant "walked normal" during the field-sobriety tests and was not swaying or having trouble maintaining his balance. When asked on cross-examination if he told Officer Phillips he had two beers that evening, defendant stated, "No, I did not. I wouldn't do th
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