Opinion ID: 1298259
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: the new statute: impaired driving

Text: The offense of driving while impaired is defined as follows: Impaired driving. (a) Offense.A person commits the offense of impaired driving if he drives any vehicle upon any highway, any street, or any public vehicular area within this State: (1) While under the influence of an impairing substance; or (2) After having consumed sufficient alcohol that he has, at any relevant time after the driving, an alcohol concentration of 0.10 or more. N.C.Gen.Stat. § 20-138.1 (1983). Prior to the enactment of G.S. 20-138.1, North Carolina law provided: Persons under the influence of alcoholic beverages. (a) It is unlawful and punishable as provided in G.S. 20-179 for any person who is under the influence of alcoholic beverages to drive or operate any vehicle upon any highway or any public vehicular area within this State. (b) It is unlawful for any person to operate any vehicle upon any highway or any public vehicular area within this State when the amount of alcohol in such person's blood is 0.10 percent or more by weight .... An offense under this subsection shall be treated as a lesser included offense of the offense of driving under the influence. N.C.Gen.Stat. § 20-138 (Cum.Supp.1981). Essentially, this statute made driving with a blood-alcohol concentration (BAC) of 0.10 percent or more a lesser included offense or separate method of proving the offense of driving while under the influence of intoxicants. Additionally, under former G.S. 20-139.1 the result of a chemical test yielding a 0.10 or greater created a presumption that the person was under the influence of intoxicating liquor. State v. Basinger, 30 N.C.App. 45, 226 S.E.2d 216 (1976). However, the 1983 Act created one substantive offense (DWI) but provided two methods of proving the offense: (1) that the State prove actual driver impairment; or (2) that the State prove only that the defendant operated a vehicle on a public highway or public vehicular area with an alcohol concentration of 0.10 or more at any relevant time after the driving. The present statutory scheme does not depend upon a presumption. The statute does not presume, it defines. State v. Franco, 96 Wash.2d 816, 823, 639 P.2d 1320, 1323 (1982); N.C.Gen.Stat. § 20-138.1 (1983). The new DWI law represents an implied consent offense pursuant to G.S. 20-16.2 which states: Implied consent to chemical analysis; mandatory revocation of license in event of refusal; right of driver to request analysis. (a) Basis for Charging Officer to Require Chemical Analysis; Notification of Rights.Any person who drives a vehicle on a highway or public vehicular area thereby gives consent to a chemical analysis if he is charged with an implied-consent offense .... (a1) Meaning of Terms.Under this section, an implied-consent offense is an offense involving impaired driving or an alcohol-related offense made subject to the procedures of this section. The new act significantly amended the prior chemical testing statutes and enacted definitions governing chemical testing. The General Assembly plainly keyed the 0.10 theory of DWI to the results of a chemical analysis, which is defined in G.S. 20-4.01 as follows: (3a) Chemical Analysis.A chemical [1] test of the breath or blood of a person to determine his alcohol concentration, performed in accordance with G.S. 20-139.1. The term chemical analysis includes duplicate or sequential analyses when necessary or desirable to insure the integrity of test results. The procedures governing the admissibility and performance of a chemical analysis are contained in G.S. 20-139.1. For our purposes, the relevant portions of this statute provide: (a) Chemical Analysis Admissible.In any implied-consent offense under G.S. 20-16.2, a person's alcohol concentration as shown by a chemical analysis is admissible in evidence. This section does not limit the introduction of other competent evidence as to a defendant's alcohol concentration, including other chemical tests. (b) Approval of Valid Test Methods; Licensing Chemical Analysts.A chemical analysis, to be valid, must be performed in accordance with the provisions of this section. The chemical analysis must be performed according to methods approved by the Commission for Health Services by an individual possessing a current permit issued by the Department of Human Resources for that type of chemical analysis. The Commission for Health Services is authorized to adopt regulations approving satisfactory methods or techniques for performing chemical analyses, and the Department of Human Resources is authorized to ascertain the qualifications and competence of individuals to conduct particular chemical analyses. The Department may issue permits to conduct chemical analyses to individuals it finds qualified subject to periodic renewal, termination, and revocation of the permit in the Department's discretion. The new statute, therefore, creates alternate methods of proving the crime of DWI. As defined by G.S. 20-138.1(a)(2), driving with a 0.10 percent BAC comprises one method of committing this crime. Additionally, the statute enables the State to introduce the results of a chemical analysis into evidence to prove the crime if the analysis comports with G.S. 20-139.1(b).