 |
 |
to fill out a simple form to connect to DUI Lawyers in your area.
|
|
|
|
|
Bramble v. State6/14/1999
APPEAL FROM: District Court of the Thirteenth Judicial District, In and for the County of Yellowstone, The Honorable Maurice R. Colberg, Jr., Judge presiding.
Submitted on Briefs: December 30, 1998
. On November 13, 1997, Gary Bramble filed a petition in the Thirteenth Judicial District Court, Yellowstone County, to challenge the seizure and suspension of his Montana driver's license for refusing to submit to a preliminary breath test pursuant to § 61-8-409, MCA, and refusing to submit to a breath test at a detention facility pursuant to § 61-8-402, MCA, during a DUI investigation and arrest. On January 30, 1998, Bramble filed a motion in limine to exclude the results of the Horizontal Gaze Nystagmus test (HGN), and the standard field sobriety tests administered to him. The District Court denied the motion. At the hearing on the petition, Bramble objected to evidence of the standard field sobriety tests for lack of foundation and also on the basis that they constitute searches requiring probable cause or a particularized suspicion. The District Court overruled both objections. The District Court denied Bramble's petition and suspended his driver's license for six months. We reverse.
. The issues raised on appeal are as follows:
. "1. Did the District Court err when it denied Bramble's motion in limine regarding the admission of the HGN field sobriety test results?"
. "2. Did the District Court err when it concluded that the arresting officer had the necessary particularized suspicion to administer the standard field sobriety tests after the DUI investigatory stop?"
. "3. Did the District Court err when it denied Bramble's petition to reinstate his driver's license because of his refusal to submit to a preliminary breath test prior to his arrest?"
FACTUAL BACKGROUND
. Shortly after midnight on October 12, 1997, the Laurel City Police received a citizen's report of a suspected drunk driver. The report stated that a white Dodge pickup on Interstate 90 heading west toward Laurel and taking the "refinery exit" might be driven by a drunk driver. The caller was anonymous and provided no information to form a basis for this Conclusion.
. After receiving the report, Reserve Laurel City Police Officer Mike Kirschenmann observed the vehicle and reported to Laurel City Police officers that the pickup was driving at sixty miles per hour in a thirty-five mile per hour construction zone. The officers then followed the vehicle. One of the officers testified at the hearing that the vehicle moved over the centerline of the highway once. However, this area of the highway was under construction with no clear centerline and had left turn lanes at that location. After following the vehicle for several hundred yards, the officer activated his overhead lights and stopped the vehicle.
. The officer testified that the vehicle did not slow down when it drove off to the side of the highway and that it stopped abruptly. The officer approached the vehicle and asked Gary Bramble, the driver, if he had been drinking. Bramble stated that he had not. At the hearing on Bramble's petition, Bramble said that he had consumed two small glasses of wine at least four hours prior to the stop. The officer testified he did not smell the odor of alcohol on Bramble's breath but decided to administer standard field sobriety tests anyhow. After a satisfactory check of Bramble's driver's license and vehicle registration, the officer informed Bramble that he would have to perform the field sobriety tests. The officer admitted at the hearing that he did not observe any indications that Bramble may have been under the infl
Page 1 2 3 4 5 Montana DUI Attorneys
DUI Lawyers
|
| |
to fill out a simple form to connect to DUI Lawyers in your area.
|
|