While on patrol in his marked HCSO patrol vehicle a HCSO Deputy was dispatched
to a reckless driver call. The call stated that the red Dodge sedan,
pulled into the driveway and the driver did not get out of the vehicle. The Deputy located the listed vehicle and parked his patrol vehicle in front of the mailbox so that he
was not blocking it in. He did not activate any emergency equipment. He
approached the vehicle on the driver side and noticed that the front
windows were down, key was in the ignition, engine on and music blaring. He
was able to wake up the driver, the Defendant, who was by himself sleeping
in the listed vehicle. After he was able to have the Defendant
turn off the music, he asked him to turn off the engine, which he did.
While talking with the Defendant, he saw that ” his eyes were glossy
and bloodshot. His manual dexterity was poor while attempting to find his
drivers license. The Defendant handed the Deputy his wallet when I asked for his license and then he fumbled with it. The Deputy could smell the strong and distinct odor of an alcoholic beverage coming from his breath and person. Defendant was slurring his words. The Deputy asked him if he had been drinking tonight and he replied that he has not had any alcohol in two days, then later changed his story to a couple of hours ago then finally stated that he was drinking in his car while
driving”. The Deputy thought that the Defendant was impaired and called
for a DUI Investigator to respond to the scene.
The DUI investigator approached the driver’ s side of the vehicle and made contact with the Defendant, who was sitting in the driver’ s seat of his vehicle.
The investigator immediately observed indicators
of impairment and an open, half full, cold to the
touch 16fl oz Budweiser beer can sitting in the front middle cup holder. Investigator
removed the beer can from within the vehicle and poured it out onto the
grass. The Investigator explained the observations to the Defendant and requested him to perform some sobriety exercises, which he agreed to perform. During the
exercises, he showed signs of impairment and was arrested for DUI.
The Defendant was transported to Central Breath Testing where he
refused to provide his two lawful breath samples.The Investigator then
advised the Defendant of the Miranda warning. The Defendant made the following statements Post Miranda:
He was convicted of a DUI in 1995. He got caught again. He is guilty. He
does not believe his arrest is valid because Law Enforcement was
trespassing on his property. He hopes he gets a female judge to throw out
the case. He understand that the Investigator is doing his job and he is thankful that he is protecting the streets from drunks like him that could cause an accident
and hurt somebody. He is not that impaired. He understands that he was
wrong and should not have been drinking and driving but he got pulled over
in his driveway. He had at least two beers to drink, but would not say
where.
Result:
The firm filed a motion to suppress and on the morning teh motion was to be heard, the State dropped the DUI charge.