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State v. Anglin5/17/2000
Reporter of Decisions
Submitted on Briefs: April 26, 2000
David Anglin appeals from a judgment entered in the Superior Court (Lincoln County, Marsano, J.) convicting him of operating under the influence in violation of 29-A M.R.S.A. § 2411(1) (1996). On appeal, Anglin contends that the court erred in admitting evidence that he refused to answer police questions following the Miranda warning, that the court improperly admitted his statement that he had been drinking, and that the evidence was insufficient to support his conviction. Finding no error, we affirm the judgment.
The relevant facts presented at trial may be summarized as follows: At around 11 p.m. on March 17, 1999, Robert Blagden, a tow truck operator, retrieved a call from his answering machine about a car that had gone off the road in Dresden. Blagden recognized the caller as his niece, Sarah McDonald and, after determining that his services were still needed, drove his truck to her house. Once there, he discovered a car completely off the travel lane with one side down in the ditch. The road curved at that point; the car had left the road on the outside of that curve. Blagden did not know how long the message had been on his machine, nor how long the car had been off the road.
David Anglin was waiting at the car when Blagden arrived and asked Blagden to tow the car to Richmond. The two men walked into the ditch to look at the car; as they did so, Anglin stumbled into Blagden. Blagden pointed out that Anglin had nearly hit a road sign; Anglin was not even aware a sign was there until Blagden pointed it out to him. Blagden wondered why Anglin wanted the car towed because the car was undamaged and could have been driven once it had been taken out of the ditch. Blagden turned his truck around to hitch and tow the car. As he did so, Anglin walked away, stopping about 50 yards down the road. At that point, Blagden called the Sheriff's Department because he was suspicious about Anglin's behavior.
Blagden started to tow the car, but before it was out of the ditch, Anglin had walked back to the truck and asked Blagden to drive him, but not the car, to Richmond. Blagden refused. Anglin then said that he thought the road wasn't sanded properly and told Blagden that this was not the first time he had left the road on this curve. Anglin felt that the road was quite poorly maintained. All of these statements surprised Blagden. The road was perfectly clear, with no snow or ice; Blagden could see no reason why anyone would feel the road needed sand. Both Blagden and the two deputy sheriffs who later arrived on the scene testified that the roads were not slippery and did not pose any difficulty for travel. Despite Anglin's statement about prior accidents on this curve, Blagden believed that Anglin was not sure where he was.
Approximately five minutes after Blagden's call, Deputies Brian Collamore and Dan Sceviour of the Lincoln County Sheriff's Department arrived. Collamore interviewed Anglin and noticed that Anglin had difficulty getting his license out of his wallet, that his eyes were glassy and bloodshot, and that Anglin had alcohol on his breath. Sceviour noticed that Anglin's speech was slurred and that his eyes were bloodshot. Anglin admitted that he was operating the car that night and that he had two drinks with his dinner approximately two hours earlier. Collamore had Anglin perform a number of field sobriety tests, concluded that Anglin was operating under the influence, and arrested him. Once Anglin reached the station, Sceviour administered a breath test. This test, given after midnight, indicated that Anglin had a blood alcohol level of 0.16.
Anglin wa
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