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People v. Kraft8/10/2000
defendant's car weaving extensively in its lane and saw it go over the fog line. After Officer Sterling activated his red light in an attempt to pull defendant's car over, defendant's car "straightened up" and reduced its speed to about 30 miles per hour, but did not stop. Even after Officer Sterling activated the pulsating "wigwag" lights and Sergeant Howard shined a spotlight into defendant's car, defendant continued northbound another quarter of a mile before stopping. Before defendant pulled over, Howard saw him reach into the backseat area of the car, grab a dark cloth object and place it in the right front seat area of the car. Defendant failed to comply with Officer Sterling's order to pull past a roadside guardrail.
After defendant emerged from his car and met Sterling between the two vehicles, Sterling noticed defendant's jeans were unbuttoned, except for the top button, at the fly. He also noticed a moderate odor of alcohol emanating from defendant's person.
Sterling had defendant walk to the front of defendant's car to perform field sobriety tests. Sterling noticed there was a passenger reclined in the front seat of the car, but did not at that time make contact with him. Following a demonstration by Sterling, defendant performed the modified position-of-attention test, in which the subject, standing with heels and toes together, tilts his head back and closes his eyes, then tries to stand as straight as possible without swaying. Defendant swayed about two inches in a circular motion. Sterling did not consider defendant to have performed that test well. Sterling then demonstrated the next test, in which the subject walks as straight as possible, forward and backward, with heels and toes touching. In performing the test, defendant sidestepped left to right about three inches. Sterling next demonstrated, and defendant performed, a test in which the subject stands on one foot and holds the other foot about six inches off the ground until told to put it down. Defendant performed well standing on his right foot, but allowed his right foot to touch the ground once while standing on his left foot. Finally, Sterling demonstrated, and defendant performed, a hand-pat test, in which one hand is held with the palm up while the other hand is used to slap the palm and then the back of the hand. The hands are rotated and the subject counts while performing the test. Defendant failed to turn his hand over completely during most of the test, contrary to instructions. Taking the tests as a whole, Sterling concluded defendant had failed them. Sterling noticed defendant's eyes were watery, although he had no trouble with his speech. During the testing process, defendant told Sterling he had been drinking with a friend and had had three or four drinks, but he denied being drunk.
Based on his observations of defendant and defendant's statements, Sterling concluded defendant had been driving under the influence ; Howard shared that opinion. Sterling placed defendant under arrest.
While Sterling was conducting the field sobriety tests, Sergeant Howard saw a passenger reclining in the Toyota's front seat. After defendant was arrested and handcuffed, the officers asked him the identity of his passenger to determine whether the car could be released to him. Defendant told Sterling his passenger was a hitchhiker. Howard shined his flashlight into the Toyota's interior to check the position of the passenger's hands. The passenger had a jacket on his lap and his hands were at his sides; he appeared to be asleep. An intact bottle, resembling a beer bottle, was between his feet. A similar bottle, broken and with a foamy residue around it and liquid running from it, lay outside the driver's doo
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