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State v. Wiles7/26/2000
AFFIRMED
Ronald L. Wiles ("Defendant") was charged with the Class D felony of driving while intoxicated in violation of Section 577.010.1, RSMo 1994. A jury found Defendant guilty, and he was sentenced to five years imprisonment. Defendant appeals his conviction, asserting that the trial court erred in 1) overruling his motion for judgment of acquittal and in sentencing him pursuant to Section 577.010.1, RSMo 1994, as the State failed to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that he had "operated" his vehicle while intoxicated and 2) overruling his motion to dismiss, submitting to the jury an instruction defining "operated" as "physically driving or operating," and refusing to give his definition of "operated."
As Defendant contests the sufficiency of the evidence supporting his conviction, appellate "review is limited to a determination of whether there is sufficient evidence from which a reasonable juror might have found the defendant guilty beyond a reasonable doubt." State v. Chaney, 967 S.W.2d 47, 52 (Mo. banc 1998), cert. denied 525 U.S. 1021, 119 S.Ct. 551, 142 L.Ed.2d 458 (1998). In applying this standard, the Court accepts as true all of the evidence favorable to the State, including all favorable inferences drawn from the evidence, and disregards all evidence and inferences to the contrary. State v. Grim, 854 S.W.2d 403, 405 (Mo. banc 1993), cert. denied 510 U.S. 997, 114 S.Ct. 562, 126 L.Ed.2d 462 (1993). Viewed in this light, the evidence most favorable to the verdict shows:
Shortly before 1 a.m. on February 14, 1999, Webb City Police Officer Travis Osterman ("Officer Osterman") received a report of a loud vehicle idling in a residential area. Upon arriving at the scene, Officer Osterman observed a blue 1970s model Ford truck parked at an angle, facing a garbage dumpster, with its engine running at a fast idle. As he approached the vehicle, Officer Osterman noticed that the truck's headlights, taillights, and brake lights were on. He found Defendant slumped over the steering wheel on the driver's side of the vehicle. Defendant's left hand was on the door rest and his right hand was down by his side. His left foot was on the brake pedal, his right foot was on the accelerator, and the vehicle was in park.
Officer Osterman knocked on the window to get Defendant's attention. Defendant failed to respond, so Officer Osterman opened the driver's side door. Defendant, after almost falling out of the truck, had to be assisted back into an upright position by Officer Osterman. Officer Osterman smelled a strong odor of intoxicants coming from Defendant and observed that his eyes were "glassy and watery and staring." Inside the truck's cab, Officer Osterman found an open container of whiskey, an open can of beer, and several unopened containers of beer. After Defendant failed three field sobriety tests, Officer Osterman arrested Defendant for driving while intoxicated. After being taken to the Webb City jail, Defendant admitted that he had been drinking and that he was still under the influence of alcohol.
In a pre-trial motion, during the instruction conference, and in his motion for a judgment of acquittal or in the alternative for a new trial, Defendant asserted that the term "operate" as used in Section 577.010, RSMo 1994, was unconstitutionally vague and that the jury instruction incorporating the term was similarly vague. The trial court overruled these objections. On June 23, 1999, a jury returned a verdict finding Defendant guilty of the charged offense. Defendant appeals his conviction.
In his first point on appeal, Defendant contends that the trial court erred in overruling his motion for judgment of acquittal and in sentencin
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