Monday, June 10, 2019

Minneapolis 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The Minnesota DWI Case Of The Week is State v. Donner (Decided June 10, 2019, Minnesota Court of Appeals, Unpublished) which stands for the proposition that a defendant need only make a prima facie showing to be entitled to a jury instruction.

Mr. Donner was arrested for a DWI on August 7, 2016 after driving home from a nightclub.  He testified at trial that someone slipped him a drug and that he was entitled to an involuntary intoxication jury instruction.

Mr. Donner testified he ordered a club soda at a night club while his friend went to the dance floor.  Mr. Donner had been in a car accident roughly a week before the arrest, and so, following his doctor’s recommendation, he did not have any alcoholic beverages to drink that night. He was also carrying about $300 in cash because he had been paid the same day.

Defendant testified that after his friend went to dance, he was approached at the bar by a woman he did not know. He purchased a drink for this woman. After chatting with this woman, appellant left his club soda at the bar while he went to the bathroom, and then came back and continued his conversation with the same woman at the bar for approximately 20 or 30 more minutes.

Mr. Donner then ended this conversation and joined his friend on the dance floor. After a short time, he “started to feel funny,” so he went back to the bar to buy a bottle of water. At this point, Donner noticed that most of the $300 in cash he had been carrying was gone. After looking and asking around for his missing money, the Defendant got upset and decided to leave the club.

R.A., a security guard at the parking lot Donner parked at, testified that appellant walked to the garage around 2:00 a.m. on August 7, 2016. Defendant appeared drunk, and R.A. told him to take a nap before driving. A.S., a second security guard at the parking garage, testified that he saw Defendant get into his car, sit without driving for four or five minutes, start driving, and almost immediately hit a parked car. R.A. then called 911 to summon the police.

Officer Ross Blair was one of the officers who responded to the call. When Officer Blair arrived, Defendant was asleep in his car and had to be woken up. Officer Blair testified that appellant showed signs of intoxication and failed multiple field sobriety tests, but did not smell like alcohol. Defendant also took a preliminary breath test for the presence of alcohol which did not detect any alcohol in appellant’s system. Police arrested Defendant based on his failed sobriety tests and took him to get tested for the presence of other chemicals in his system.

Police obtained a warrant for Defendant's blood, had a sample taken at a nearby hospital, and sent it to the Bureau of Criminal Apprehension to be tested for the presence of intoxicants. The test revealed that Defendant had a significant amount of alprazolam, more commonly known as Xanax, in his system. The therapeutic range for alprazolam is between .02 and .06 milligrams per liter, while the testing revealed appellant had a concentration of .074 milligrams per liter in his bloodstream. Appellant was eventually charged with second-degree driving while impaired in violation of Minn. Stat. § 169A.20, subd. 1(2) (2016), and careless driving in violation of Minn. Stat. § 169.13, subd. 2 (2016).

At trial, Defendant did not contest the fact that he drove while impaired, but testified that he did not knowingly consume any intoxicating substances the evening of his arrest. At the close of evidence, the district court considered whether to instruct the jury on the affirmative defense of involuntary intoxication. Though the district court noted that it was a “close call,” it elected not to include this instruction, concluding that Defendant had failed to establish a prima facie case.

On appeal, the Minnesota Court of Appeals justifiably reversed the district court.  It appears that the district court did not know the meaning of prima facie. Or, as stated by the Court of Appeals:

"It is beyond dispute that a party is entitled to an instruction on his theory of the case if there is evidence to support it.” State v. Ruud, 259 N.W.2d 567, 578 (Minn. 1977). If an instruction is “warranted by the facts and relevant law” it must be given. State v. McCuiston, 514 N.W.2d 802, 804 (Minn. App. 1994), review denied (Minn. June 15, 1994); see also State v. Moser, 884 N.W.2d 890, 905 (Minn. App. 2016) (noting that once a defendant meets “a burden of production by making a prima facie showing that the defense applies,” the district court must give a jury instruction on an affirmative defense)."

"A prima facie showing is that which is “based on what seems to be true on first examination, even though it may later be proved to be untrue.” Black’s Law Dictionary 1382 (10th ed. 2014) (defining “prima facie”). “[T]he defendant’s burden of making a prima facie showing that would entitle him to a jury instruction and the defendant’s burden of proving to the trier of fact by a preponderance of the evidence each element of the defense proffered are two separate inquiries.” State v. Voorhees, 596 N.W.2d 241, 250 n.2 (Minn. 1999)."
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"We conclude that, when viewing the evidence in the light most favorable to appellant, appellant did establish a prima facie case for the affirmative defense of involuntary intoxication. Therefore, the district court abused its discretion when it declined to instruct the jury on involuntary intoxication."

Moral Of The Story:  While appearances may be deceiving, they are enough to get you a jury instruction.



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





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