Opinion ID: 2516950
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Relevant Evidence Adduced at Trial

Text: The following facts are drawn from the testimony of Officer Mark Hada and defendant Bayly at trial. On October 1, 2005, at around 12:10 a.m., the Maui Police Department dispatch sent Wailuku patrol units to the parking lot of 1325 Lower Main Street, on the island of Maui. Officer Hada, who was assigned to the traffic department at that time, heard the dispatch and arrived at the scene at approximately 12:30 a.m. Officer Hada was told by other officers at the scene that the driver was suspected of being intoxicated. Officer Hada described the parking lot at 1325 Lower Main Street as a flat, paved concrete parking lot. The parking lot was an elevated structure, raised about seven to eight feet above Lower Main Street, which is north of the lot, and separated by a concrete wall. Between the edge of the parking lot and the concrete wall is a grassy dirt area approximately two feet wide. The parking lot is raised about one foot to one foot and a half above the grassy dirt area. The parking spaces are angled so that vehicles on the side where Bayly's truck was parked face northwest. Officer Hada observed that the lighting in the area was very adequate, and that weather conditions were clear. Although Bayly was not in the vehicle at the time Officer Hada arrived, Hada testified that the front driver's side of Bayly's truck was hanging off of the concrete parking area and was onto the grassy area. Hada did not notice any damage to any property or to Bayly's truck. According to Officer Hada, the truck was stuck in this position, and there was not enough torque in the vehicle to actually reverse it out without having to call for a tow. After approaching Bayly, Officer Hada observed that Bayly was disheveled, had a circular and side-to-side sway, had a strong odor of liquor, and had red, watery eyes, and slurred and mumbling speech. Hada also testified that Bayly was very arrogant, very cocky, very uncooperative in his interactions with the officer. Hada performed the horizontal and vertical gaze nystagmus field sobriety tests on Bayly, and based on his observations arrested Bayly for OUI. [4] Bayly was given a blood test at 2:15 a.m., and the parties stipulated that the test showed Bayly to have 0.068 grams of alcohol per 100 milliliters of blood. [5] At trial, Officer Hada was shown a video of the parking lot at Lower Main Street. Upon viewing the video, Hada recalled that there was a yellow bumpster [sic] in the parking stalls where Bayly's truck had been parked, and that the driver's side tire of Bayly's vehicle was off the ledge. When asked whether the other side was still on the parking lot, Hada testified that he thought it was partially off and believ[ed] it was hanging on the edge. Bayly, testifying on his own behalf, stated that it was the front passenger side of his truck that went off the edge of the parking lot, while the left tire or driver's side was touching the bumper. [6] According to Bayly, he slowly entered the parking lot stall to ensure that his truck would touch the yellow bumper with the driver's side tire so that he would know when to stop. Bayly explained his car going off the edge as follows: Unfortunately that bumper isn't even attached to the concrete and it was put in a position to where my right side went off the embankment at the same time that I was technically trying to be, you know, touch that bumper with my tire. Bayly added that he thought his car going off the edge ha[d] to do with a bad parking stall, not anything to do with impairment or judgment. With respect to the bumper, Bayly also stated that they are completely loose, and that there's holes in them where they're supposed to be mounted in the parking lot so that they're stationary, but they're not. They're loose. On cross-examination, Bayly testified that he had been to the parking lot once before in the daytime, but that he was not aware of the parking situation on the side of the lot in which his car was parked on the night of the incident. Bayly admitted that he had consumed two beers that night. Before ruling, the district court summarized the factual findings relevant to the inattention to driving charge based on the testimony and video evidence. With respect to the location of the vehicle, the court reiterated that Officer Hada testified that the front end of the vehicle's driver's side tire was over the parking concrete area, and based on the video stated that there was a foot to a foot-and-a-half drop to the grassy dirt area below. The court reiterated Officer Hada's testimony that the bottom of Bayly's vehicle was touching the concrete area and that the vehicle's tire was hanging over the front. Regarding the yellow bumper, the court found that it was heavy but mobile with some force, and did not cover the whole length of the parking stall, such that one tire of a vehicle could pass to the side of the bumper and end up in the grassy dirt area.