Monday, September 18, 2017

Minnesota DWI Attorney F. T. Sessoms Blogs on Minnesota DWI: This Week's Featured Minnesota DWI Case

The Minnesota DWI Case Of The Week is State v. Hammers (Decided September 18, 2017, Minnesota Court of Appeals, Unpublished) which stands for the proposition that the Minnesota Implied Consent Advisory does not have to inform an individual under arrest for DWI that the police need a warrant to obtain a blood sample.

In Hammers (unfortunate name), the Defendant was stopped for driving over the fog and center lines.  The deputy noticed that Hammers' eyes were watery and bloodshot and after the Defendant failed field-sobriety tests, Mr. Hammers was arrested and taken to the Carver County jail.

Mr. Hammers was read the Minnesota Implied Consent Advisory, which informed him that Minnesota law required him to take an alcohol concentration test, that refusal to test was a crime, and that he had the right to consult with an attorney before deciding whether to submit to the test. Hammers stated that he understood the advisory and he declined to speak to an attorney. He took a breath test, which revealed an alcohol concentration of 0.29.

Hammers filed a motion to dismiss the DWI charges arguing that the Minnesota Implied Consent Advisory was misleading and, therefore, violated his right to due process.  The District Court denied the motion and on appeal, the Minnesota Court of Appeals affirmed, noting that: "An implied consent advisory that contains no misleading assurances would not violate federal due process"..."Hammers maintains unconvincingly that the implied-consent advisory must also inform drivers that Minnesota law allows officers to seek a search warrant to obtain a chemical test. He cites Birchfield v. North Dakota for the notion that the advisory defined by statute is inadequate because it lacks a warrant advisement. See U.S. , 136 S. Ct. 2160 (2016). The Birchfield Court held that a breath test is a permissible search incident to a person's drunk-driving arrest and that the state may therefore criminally prosecute the person for refusing a warrantless breath test. 136 S. Ct. at 2186. We read nothing in Birchfield to require the state's implied-consent advisory to contain a warrant advisement for breath tests."
***
"Because neither the statute nor any caselaw requires a warrant advisement, the advisory was not misleading and did not violate Hammers's due process rights. The district court did not err by denying Hammers's motion to dismiss."

What is interesting about this case is that the Court also states in its opinion that, "Current Minnesota law would not have permitted police to obtain a warrant to test Hammers if he refused testing after he received the implied-consent advisory. See Minn. Stat. § 169A.52, subd. 1 (2016) ("If a person refuses to permit a test, then a test must not be given."); see also State v. Scott, 473 N.W.2d 375, 377 (Minn. App. 1991) (explaining that police may not compel driver to submit to test after driver refuses test)."

So this case is interesting because some counties (Isanti, Carver, come to mind) are reading the advisory and if the defendant refuses, executing a search warrant to get the blood.  This practice is now clearly illegal.

Moral Of The Story:  You should exercise your right to counsel prior to testing as it may save you from a DWI!!

If you or a loved one have been arrested for a Minnesota DWI, feel free to contact Minnesota DWI Attorney, F. T. Sessoms at (612) 344-1505 for answers to all of your Minnesota DWI questions.




Monday, September 11, 2017

Minnesota DWI Lawyer F. T. Sessoms Blogs on Minnesota DWI: This Week's Featured Minnesota DWI Case

The Minnesota DWI Case Of The Week is State v. Clark (Decided September 11, 2017, Minnesota Court Of Appeals, Unpublished) which stands for the proposition that you do not have to be found inside your vehicle to be convicted of a Minnesota DWI.

In Clark, a woman was driving with her husband in the early morning hours of January 7, 2015.  They saw the Defendant, Anthony Clark, walking down the middle of the road straight at her vehicle and waving his hands in the air. They slowed down to speak with the Defendant, who appeared delusional, hurt, and in need of help. The woman called 911 to report the situation and as they continued they also noticed a vehicle in the ditch about 6 feet beyond where Defendant was walking and associated the vehicle with Defendant. It was very cold outside and had recently snowed. The woman and her husband did not see anyone else around.  They were unable to stay at the scene, but others arrived to help.

Another individual allowed the Defendant to sit in his vehicle until help arrived.  Officer Miguel Guadalajara and Officer Patrick Sloan arrived separately at the scene shortly after starting their early morning shifts. Officer Sloan saw the vehicle in the ditch and parked his squad car on the road north of the vehicle.

Officer Guadalajara also observed the vehicle in the ditch and did not see anyone by the vehicle. He parked his squad car on the road south of the vehicle in the ditch. As he approached the vehicles parked on the road ahead, he saw footprints around the vehicle in the ditch. He saw a set of footprints with the same tread outside the driver's side door of the vehicle in the ditch and leading from the driver's side up toward the vehicle occupied by the Defendant.  The officer noticed the Defendant had bloodshot, watery eyes and smelled of an alcoholic beverage.

Officer Guadalajara advised Defendant that they believed he drove the vehicle into the ditch and that he was intoxicated while driving. He gave Defendant a preliminary breath test, which registered an alcohol concentration of 0.183. Defendant was placed under arrest on suspicion of driving while impaired (DWI) and read the implied-consent advisory. When asked to submit to a breath test, the Defendant refused.  The Defendant was then charged with First Degree Refusal to Submit to Testing (Felony refusal due to his prior DWI record).

At trial, Officer Sloan testified that he believed that appellant was the driver of the vehicle in the ditch. He observed footprints in the recently fallen snow around the general vicinity of the driver's side door and testified that it looked like only one person had come from the vehicle. He located the vehicle's keys inside the vehicle, but not in the ignition. He found a backpack in the backseat containing appellant's cell phone and papers and effects with appellant's name on them. He also located 5-Hour Energy drinks in the front passenger seat, the same type that he found on appellant during the pat-down. Officer Guadalajara testified that he found a 5-Hour Energy drink in the back of his squad car after appellant got out of the car at the police department.  

The jury found the Defendant guilty of felony refusal and on appeal, he claimed the evidence was insufficient to find him guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.  The Minnesota Court of Appeals, however, affirmed the conviction, noting:

"In considering a sufficiency-of-the-evidence challenge, this court's review is limited to a thorough analysis of the record to determine whether the evidence, when viewed in the light most favorable to the conviction, is sufficient to allow the jurors to reach the verdict that they did.(citation omitted)".

"Appellant argues on appeal that the state failed to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the arresting officer had probable cause to believe that appellant was in physical control of the vehicle in the ditch because appellant was found walking down the road; no one saw him in the vehicle or in the driver's seat; the vehicle was immobile in a snowy ditch; no one saw the vehicle go into the ditch; and the keys were found in the vehicle but not in the ignition."

"In viewing the evidence here in the light most favorable to the conviction, and assuming that the jury believed the state's witnesses, there was sufficient evidence presented at trial that Officers Sloan and Guadalajara observed or had information that: (1) there was an immobile vehicle in a snowy ditch on the side of Barnes road in a rural location; (2) it was a very cold day and had recently snowed; (3) witnesses reported a man in need of help walking in the road in close proximity to the vehicle in the ditch; (4) no one saw the vehicle go into the ditch or saw anyone in the vehicle; (5) no one saw anyone other than appellant near the vehicle; (6) appellant exhibited signs of hypothermia and indicia of intoxication when the officers arrived; (7) there were footprints that looked like they came from the same person in front of the vehicle in the ditch and leading from its driver's side up to M.G.'s vehicle, where appellant was sitting when the officers arrived; (8) the keys were located inside the unlocked vehicle in the ditch but were not in the ignition; (9) a backpack in the backseat of the vehicle contained appellant's cell phone, as well as papers and effects with his name on them; and (10) 5-Hour Energy drinks were found in the front passenger seat of the vehicle, on appellant's person during a pat-down search, and in the back of Officer Guadalajara's squad car after appellant got out of it at the police department."

"The evidence presented at trial supports the conclusion that a reasonable officer in this situation would have entertained an honest and strong suspicion that appellant had the means to initiate the vehicle's movement despite its immobility, and was in a position to exercise dominion or control over the vehicle at any time, so as to establish probable cause that appellant was in physical control. Thus, there was sufficient evidence in the record for the jury to reasonably conclude that the state proved beyond a reasonable doubt that the arresting officer had probable cause to believe that appellant was in physical control of the motor vehicle, as required to find appellant guilty of first-degree test refusal."



If you or a loved one have been arrested for a Minnesota DWI, feel free to contact Minnesota DWI Lawyer, F. T. Sessoms at (612) 344-1505 for answers to all of your Minnesota DWI questions.





Wednesday, September 6, 2017

Minneapolis DWI Attorney F. T. Sessoms Blogs on Minnesota DWI: This Week's Featured Minnesota DWI Case

The Minnesota DWI Case Of The Week is State v. Meeks (Decided September 4, 2017, Minnesota Court of Appeals, Unpublished) which stands for the proposition that if you are going to drive while high on drugs, it is probably not a good idea to be carrying your stash of methamphetamine and heroin in your vehicle.

In Meeks, the Defendant was stopped after driving his vehicle at varying speeds, crossing the center and fog lines, and tapping his brakes. The police officer initiated the stop after he radioed dispatch to notify the Beltrami County Sheriff's Office and the Minnesota State Patrol.

Upon approaching the vehicle, the officer noticed a strong odor of air freshener coming from the vehicle and suspected that it might be masking the smell of drugs or alcohol. The officer also observed multiple toggle switches and testified that from his training and experience he knows toggle switches are sometimes used to access hidden compartments used for drug trafficking.

The deputy had Meeks perform a field sobriety test twice, which Meeks failed both times in a manner indicating that Meeks might be under the influence of a controlled substance. While the deputy was performing the field sobriety tests, a Minnesota state trooper and another Beltrami County sheriff's deputy with a K-9 unit also responded to the stop. The deputy who had performed the field sobriety tests then instructed the K-9 unit to conduct a sniff of Meek's vehicle.

While Meeks was performing further field sobriety tests under direction of the trooper, the K-9 alerted to the presence of controlled substances behind the driver's door. Based on Meeks' driving, confused appearance, and failure to successfully perform field sobriety tests, Meeks was arrested.

After Meeks was arrested, law enforcement obtained a search warrant and searched the vehicle, finding approximately 50 grams of methamphetamine and 4 grams of heroin behind the driver's seat. Meeks was charged with first-degree possession of a controlled substance and third-degree test refusal. The test refusal charge was later dismissed.

Meeks moved for all evidence gathered at the stop to be suppressed. The district court denied his motion and on appeal, the Minnesota Court of Appeals affirmed the district court noting:

"Meeks does not dispute that the police officer had reasonable suspicion for stopping his car when he observed Meeks' vehicle varying its speed, crossing the center and fog lines, and tapping its brakes. Meeks contends that the officers should have taken him at his word that he was having issues with his GPS and did not have reasonable suspicion to conduct field sobriety testing."

"First, it must be noted that "[t]he fact that there might have been an innocent explanation for [appellant's] conduct does not demonstrate that the officers could not reasonably believe that [he] had committed a crime." State v. Hawkins, 622 N.W.2d 576, 580 (Minn. App. 2001). Nevertheless, "[a]n initially valid stop may become invalid if it becomes intolerable in its intensity or scope." Askerooth, 681 N.W.2d at 364 (quotation omitted)."

"Askerooth instructs that we employ a two-part test to determine whether an unreasonable seizure has taken place. Id. First, we must determine "whether the stop was justified at its inception." Id. Second, we must determine "whether the actions of the police during the stop were reasonably related to and justified by the circumstances that gave rise to the stop in the first place." Id. In other words, "each incremental intrusion during a stop must be 'strictly tied to and justified by the circumstances which rendered the initiation of the stop permissible.'" Id. (alteration omitted) (quoting Terry v. Ohio, 392 U.S. 1, 19, 88 S. Ct. 1868, 1878 (1968) (quotation omitted))."

"Therefore, incremental intrusions during a traffic stop must be "tied to and justified by" at least one of the following: "(1) the original legitimate purpose of the stop, (2) independent probable cause, or (3) reasonableness as defined in Terry." Id. at 364 (quotation omitted). Here, the original legitimate purpose of the traffic stop justifies law enforcement's decision to expand the stop to include field sobriety testing."

This resulted in a lawful arrest and the subsequent search of the Defendant's vehicle was, therefore, lawful as well.

If you or a loved one have been arrested for a Minnesota DWI, or are facing a DWI forfeiture of your motor vehicle, feel free to contact Minneapolis DWI Attorney, F. T. Sessoms at (612) 344-1505 for answers to all of your Minnesota DWI questions.