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City of West Fargo v. Hawkins9/6/2000
Appeal from the District Court of Cass County, East Central Judicial District, the Honorable Cynthia A. Rothe-Seeger, Judge.
AFFIRMED.
Opinion of the Court by VandeWalle, Chief Justice.
[ ] Kenneth Donald Hawkins appealed from a judgment of conviction for driving under the influence ("DUI"). We affirm, concluding the evidence was sufficient to support the conviction and the trial court did not err in admitting into evidence the analytical blood test report.
I.
[ ] Hawkins was involved in an automobile accident at approximately 3:30 p.m. on May 29, 1999, on Main Avenue in West Fargo. Hawkins attempted to walk away from the accident scene and was stopped by Officer Sall of the West Fargo Police Department. Officer Sall noticed a strong odor of alcohol coming from Hawkins. Officer Sall transported Hawkins back to the accident scene in the back of his patrol car. Hawkins failed field sobriety tests and was arrested for DUI.
[ ] Officer Sall transported Hawkins to a local hospital where Brenda Johnson, a registered nurse, drew a blood sample from Hawkins. Johnson completed and signed the portion of Form 104, included in the blood kit, indicating she had drawn the blood in accordance with the State Toxicologist's approved method.
[ ] Officer Sall completed the rest of Form 104, including the checklist indicating the various steps outlined by the State Toxicologist had been followed. One of those checked items states: "Affixed tamper-evident kit box shipping seal on kit box." Officer Sall admitted at trial that, although he checked that item while still at the hospital, he actually had not at that time placed the shipping seal on the kit box. He testified, however, that the blood kit box remained in his possession at all times, and he placed the shipping seal on the box a short time later.
[ ] The case was originally venued in municipal court, but was transferred to district court upon Hawkins's request for a jury trial. Although the original uniform traffic complaint erroneously listed the date of the offense as May 28, 1999, the copy of the uniform complaint filed with the district court had been changed to show the correct date, May 29, 1999. Hawkins's counsel concedes she received a copy of the complaint with the corrected date of the offense prior to trial.
[ ] Defendant's pre-trial motion to suppress the Form 104 and blood test results, which showed Hawkins's blood alcohol content at .25 percent, was denied. Trial was held on November 16-17, 1999, and the jury returned a verdict finding Hawkins guilty of DUI.
II.
[ ] Hawkins asserts he was entitled to a verdict of acquittal as a matter of law because the complaint charged him with committing the offense on May 28, 1999, but all of the evidence at trial related to conduct occurring on May 29, 1999. He therefore argues this Court must reverse the conviction and dismiss the DUI charge because there was insufficient evidence to convict him of the offense charged.
[ ] The primary purpose of a criminal complaint or information is to fairly inform the accused of the charges against him to enable him to prepare for trial. City of Fargo v. Schwagel, 544 N.W.2d 873, 874 (N.D. 1996); State v. Gahner, 413 N.W.2d 359, 361 (N.D. 1987); N.D.R.Crim.P. 7(c), Explanatory Note. In considering the sufficiency of the criminal information, technicalities have been abolished, and mere defects, inaccuracies, or omissions do not affect the proceedings unless, as a result, no offense is charged. City of Grand Forks v. Mata, 517 N.W.2d 626, 628 (N.D. 1994).
[ ] There is no argument here that Hawkins was not info
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