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Commonwealth v. Mattingly8/16/2002
AFFIRMING AND REMANDING
The Commonwealth brings this matter on discretionary review from an opinion and order of the Marion Circuit Court which set aside a conditional guilty plea entered by Joseph Corey Mattingly to the charge of driving under the influence (DUI), first offense. The Commonwealth asserts that when it elects to prosecute a DUI charge under KRS 189A.010(1)(a), a defendant may not present any evidence attempting to prove that he or she was not under the influence of alcohol. Rather, the Commonwealth contends that the defendant's blood- or breath-alcohol concentration is the primary relevant factor in such a prosecution. We agree with the circuit court, however, that Mattingly was entitled to present any evidence which tended to impugn the results of the breath-and blood-alcohol concentration test, including evidence of his performance on field sobriety tests. Hence, we affirm the circuit court and remand for further proceedings.
The facts underlying this appeal are not in dispute. Following a traffic stop on February 18, 2000, Mattingly was arrested and charged with DUI, first offense. Prior to the scheduled trial in Marion District Court, the Commonwealth announced that it was electing to prosecute Mattingly under KRS 189A.010(1)(a) - the so-called"DUI per se" provision. The Commonwealth stated that it intended to produce only evidence that Mattingly was operating a motor vehicle on February 18, 2000, and at that time he had blood- or breath-alcohol concentration of .10 or higher. Based upon this election, the Commonwealth filed a motion in limine, seeking to exclude the introduction of any evidence concerning whether Mattingly was under the influence of alcohol on February, 18, 2000, including evidence of the field sobriety test conducted by the arresting officer. Mattingly opposed the motion, contending that such evidence was relevant to challenge the results of his breathalyzer test.
The district court ultimately granted the Commonwealth's motion. The court recognized that field sobriety tests have long been used to prove or disprove that an accused was driving under the influence . However, because impaired driving is not at issue to prove DUI per se, the court reasoned that in this case such evidence is irrelevant. Thereafter, Mattingly entered a conditional plea of guilty, reserving the right to appeal the district court's evidentiary ruling.
On appeal, the Marion Circuit Court reversed, determining that field sobriety tests and evidence which may show that a defendant was not under the influence would be relevant to challenge the accuracy of the breathalyzer test. The court concluded that excluding this evidence would violate an accused's constitutional rights to present a defense. Accordingly, the court set aside the guilty plea and remanded the matter to district court for further proceedings.
The Commonwealth then filed a motion for discretionary review, which this Court granted on August 10, 2001. The central issue in this case concerns the relevancy of evidence in a prosecution for DUI per se. At the time of the offense, KRS 189A.010(1) required the Commonwealth to prove that a person was operating or in control of a motor vehicle; and that said person either: (a) had an blood- or breath-alcohol concentration of .10 or more; (b) was under the influence of alcohol; (c) was under the influence of any other substance which impairs one's driving ability; (d) was under the combined influence of alcohol and any other substance which impairs one's driving ability; or (e) was under the age of 21 and had a blood- or breath-alcohol concentration of 0.02 or more. However, these are not separate offenses, but merely alternative mea
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