 |
 |
to fill out a simple form to connect to DUI Lawyers in your area.
|
|
|
|
|
Jones v. State4/7/1999
NOTICE: Memorandum decisions of this court do not create legal precedent. See Alaska Appellate Rule 214(d) and Paragraph 7 of the Guidelines for Publication of Court of Appeals Decisions (Court of Appeals Order No. 3). Accordingly, this memorandum decision may not be cited for any proposition of law, nor as an example of the proper resolution of any issue.
MEMORANDUM OPINION AND JUDGMENT
No. 4032
Appeal from the District Court, Fourth Judicial District, Fairbanks, Jane F. Kauvar and H.E. Crutchfield, Judges.
Rebecca C. Jones was convicted, following her pleas of no contest, of driving while intoxicated (DWI) and of refusal to submit to a chemical test. She now appeals, asserting that District Court Judge Jane F. Kauvar erred when she denied Jones' motion to suppress evidence seized during a stop of her vehicle. We affirm.
On December 19, 1997, Fairbanks Police Sergeant Dan Hoffman received a "locate" from the Fairbanks Police Department (FPD) dispatcher regarding an intoxicated male driver. The FPD dispatcher received the information from an Alaska State Trooper (AST) dispatcher, who had received a telephone call from the 7-11 store at "Campus Corner," located at University and College Road. The AST dispatcher told the FPD dispatcher that the store clerk had reported that an intoxicated man had been harassing him, had staggered out, and had gotten into a red 1981 Ford two-door and had driven away. The clerk provided the car's license plate number, and said that the car had last been seen pulling out of the parking lot and heading eastbound on College Road.
Approximately five minutes after this dispatch, Hoffman saw a car matching the description he had been given turn onto Illinois Street from Phillips Field Road. He followed the car and confirmed that the plate number matched the dispatch information. He then stopped the car, although he could not see who was driving. As Hoffman approached the car, he saw a male in the passenger seat. Jones was in the driver's seat.
Hoffman spoke with the male, who said that he had been at the Campus Corner 7-11, but that he had not been driving. The male appeared intoxicated, but Hoffman had not seen him driving and so did not pursue the DWI investigation of the male. Hoffman then spoke with Jones, who was agitated and was asking Hoffman why they had been stopped. During his contact with Jones, he noticed that her speech was slurred, and he detected an odor of alcohol on her breath. When he asked, she denied drinking. He then gave her a horizontal gaze nystagmus test while she was still seated in the car. Hoffman noted that she performed poorly, and concluded that she might be intoxicated. At Hoffman's request, Jones got out of the vehicle and performed other field sobriety tests, which she failed. Hoffman then arrested her for DWI; she later refused to submit to a chemical test to determine her blood-alcohol content.
Jones moved to suppress the evidence garnered during the stop on the grounds that there was no basis for the stop. Specifically, she argued that the information forwarded from AST to FPD was multilayer hearsay; that the caller was anonymous; that there was no corroboration except that which was innocuous and visible to the eye; and that without corroboration, the anonymous tip was not reliable. Her motion was denied by Judge Kauvar. Later, before Acting District Court Judge H.E. Crutchfield, she entered her pleas of no contest. This appeal follows.
Jones renews her claim that there was no basis for the stop, and also notes that Judge Kauvar neglected to make findings of fact concerning her decision on the suppression motion.
Whil
Page 1 2 3 Alaska DUI Attorneys
DUI Lawyers
|
| |
to fill out a simple form to connect to DUI Lawyers in your area.
|
|