Case Title: State v. Eckhardt

Citation: 165 Vt 606, 686 A.2d 104

Docket Number: 

State: vermont

Court: Vermont Supreme Court

Date: 1996-08-26T00:00:00Z

Document:
State v. Eckhardt  (95-484); 165 Vt 606; 686 A.2d 104

[Opinion Filed 27-Aug-1996]


                          ENTRY ORDER

                  SUPREME COURT DOCKET NO. 95-484

                          JUNE TERM, 1996


State of Vermont                }     APPEALED FROM:
                                }
                                }
     v.                         }     District Court of Vermont,
                                }     Unit No. 1, Rutland Circuit
Dennis Eckhardt                 }
                                }     DOCKET NO. 69-3-95 Rdcs


       In the above-entitled cause, the Clerk will enter:


       Defendant appeals from a judgment ordering civil suspension of his
  license, claiming that the trial court erred in concluding that a driveway
  serving a single residence constitutes a "highway" within the meaning of 23
  V.S.A. § 1201(a)(2).(FN1)  We affirm.

       On March 10, 1995, Vermont State Trooper Michael Macarilla observed a
  car speeding and followed it into defendant's driveway.  While Trooper
  Macarilla was questioning the driver, defendant drove up and parked. 
  Defendant got out, and Trooper Macarilla, observing indications of
  intoxication, processed defendant for DUI.

       After a bench trial, the court found that defendant had been driven
  home by a friend to the "top of the driveway," that the friend got out, and
  that defendant drove to the garage and parked.  The court, concluding that
  the private driveway constitutes a "public highway" under 23 V.S.A. §
  4(13)(FN2), ordered defendant's license suspended.  On appeal, defendant
  argues that the trial court erred in holding that a private driveway falls
  within the definition of a public highway for the purposes of Vermont's DUI
  statute.

       "The primary object of the [DUI statute] is the protection of the
  public from injury to person or property by persons operating or attempting
  to operate motor vehicles while under the influence of intoxicating liquor
  . . . ."  State v. Bromley, 117 Vt. 228, 230,