Opinion ID: 2174525
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Admission of the Intoxilyzer test results.

Text: Under Iowa Code section 321J.2, a person commits the offense of operating while intoxicated if the person operates a motor vehicle in this state while having an alcohol concentration of .10 or more, as defined in Iowa Code section 321J.1(1). Our implied consent law provides the procedures by which a police officer may administer a test of alcohol concentration. It reads: 1. A person who operates a motor vehicle in this state under circumstances which give reasonable grounds to believe that the person has been operating a motor vehicle in violation of section 321J.2 is deemed to have given consent to the withdrawal of specimens of the person's blood, breath, or urine and to a chemical test or tests of the specimens for purpose of determining the alcohol concentration or presence of drugs, subject to this section. Withdrawal of the body substances and the test or tests shall be administered at the written request of a peace officer having reasonable grounds to believe that the person was operating a motor vehicle in violation of section 321J.2, and if any of the following conditions exist: .... d. The preliminary breath screening test was administered and it indicated an alcohol concentration as defined in section 321J.1 of .10 or more. Iowa Code § 321J.6(1)(d). Consent to withdraw specimens for determining alcohol concentration or the presence of drugs exists when two conditions exist; a person operates a motor vehicle under circumstances which give reasonable grounds to believe that the person has been operating the motor vehicle while intoxicated, and one of six additional conditions listed in section 321J.6(1) is met. Condition d, that a preliminary breath screening test was administered and it indicated an alcohol concentration as defined in section 321J.1 of .10 or more, was met in this case. Braun argues that Deputy Burmeister did not have reasonable grounds to believe that Braun was operating a motor vehicle in violation of section 321J.2. Specifically, Braun contends that Burmeister did not have reasonable grounds to believe that Braun was intoxicated. While the preliminary breath screening test showed that Braun had an impermissible level of alcohol in his body, that test cannot serve as a basis for finding reasonable grounds to believe that Braun was operating while intoxicated. The test results and the finding of reasonable grounds are two separate criteria; both must be satisfied. Nieman v. Iowa Dep't of Transp., 452 N.W.2d 203, 204 (Iowa App.1989). Unless a collision resulting in injury or death has occurred, reasonable grounds must exist before administration of a preliminary breath screening test is authorized by law. Iowa Code § 321J.5; cf. Westendorf v. Iowa Dep't of Transp., 400 N.W.2d 553, 555 (Iowa 1987) (results of a preliminary breath screening test may be included in the determination of whether the reasonable grounds requirement under section 321J.12 (1985) is met to allow the department of transportation to revoke a person's motor vehicle license). The reasonable grounds test is met when the facts and circumstances known to the officer at the time action was required would have warranted a prudent person's belief that an offense has been committed. State v. Owens, 418 N.W.2d 340, 342 (Iowa 1988); Crosser v. Iowa Dep't of Pub. Safety, 240 N.W.2d 682, 685 (Iowa 1976). Aside from the preliminary breath screening test, ample evidence that Braun was intoxicated was present. Deputy Burmeister testified that he found Braun asleep at the steering wheel of a car parked in the middle of the highway, Braun had difficulty removing his wallet and driver's license, Braun's speech was somewhat impaired, and he seemed confused. Burmeister also noticed that Braun's eyes were bloodshot and there was a moderate odor of alcohol about him. Braun had difficulty walking to the police car, leaned against his car to maintain balance, and walked in an unstable and unsteady manner. Braun admitted to Burmeister that he had been drinking and he had been driving. This evidence is sufficient to support the officer's belief that reasonable grounds existed to believe that Braun was intoxicated. The Iowa Court of Appeals reversed Braun's conviction because the court found a lack of direct evidence of reasonable grounds to believe that Braun was operating the vehicle. However, the elements of a crime may be proven by circumstantial evidence as well as direct evidence. Direct evidence and circumstantial evidence are equally probative. Iowa R.App.P. 14(f)(16). Operation of the motor vehicle by the defendant may be established by circumstantial evidence. State v. Hiatt, 231 Iowa 499, 506-07, 1 N.W.2d 664, 668 (1942) (court upheld operating while intoxicated conviction in which defendant was not seen driving the car, but stated at the scene of an accident that he had been driving, and no other person was seen near the car or with the defendant); State v. Sharpshair, 215 Iowa 399, 401, 245 N.W. 350, 351 (1932) (court upheld operating while intoxicated conviction in which police officers arrived at a stalled car, the defendant was standing outside the car with his family, and the defendant stated that he had been driving). Braun relies on State v. Creighton, 201 N.W.2d 471 (Iowa 1972), in which this court reversed a conviction of operating while intoxicated because the State failed to present any evidence that the defendant was intoxicated at the time he drove his car. We find, however, that the State in the present action has shown sufficient evidence that reasonable grounds existed to believe that Braun operated his car and was intoxicated at the time. In Creighton, the State established by circumstantial evidence that the defendant was the driver in a one-car accident. The defendant was found wandering alone in the road, bloodied from a head injury, and he stated that he had driven into the ditch. Id. at 472-73. The court, however, reversed the defendant's conviction because the record lacked sufficient circumstantial evidence to establish that the defendant was intoxicated at the time; no sobriety tests were given, no search was made for alcohol containers from which the defendant might have drunk after the accident, and there was no showing of how much time had elapsed between the accident and arrest. Id. at 473. There is an abundance of circumstantial evidence that Braun had driven his car to the location where Deputy Burmeister found him and that Braun had driven there in an intoxicated condition. Braun was asleep in the driver's seat, with all of the controls within his reach. The car was dangerously parked in the middle of an undivided highway. Deputy Burmeister did not see any other person walking along the highway away from the car. No alcohol containers were found in the car nor were seen on the ground. Braun appeared drunk and Burmeister smelled alcohol on his breath. Finally, Braun admitted at the scene where Burmeister found him and again at the public safety building that he had drunk intoxicants and then driven to the location on Highway F70. In Sharpshair, this court stated: It was proper and sufficient to establish the identity of appellant, as the driver of the car, by his admissions made out of court, exactly as it is proper and sufficient to establish the identity of any defendant as the perpetrator of a proved act by such admissions. 215 Iowa at 401, 245 N.W. at 351; see also Creighton, 201 N.W.2d at 472-73. We find that there is sufficient circumstantial evidence in the record to show that Deputy Burmeister had reasonable grounds to believe that Braun was operating the vehicle while intoxicated to warrant invocation of the implied consent law. The trial court did not abuse its discretion in admitting the results of the Intoxilyzer breath test. State v. Hershey, 348 N.W.2d 1, 2 (Iowa 1984).