Court Opinion

ID: 9563157
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-21 18:37:21.106601+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T09:17:44.985614
License: Public Domain

TYSON, Judge
concurring in the result.
The majority’s opinion holds no error occurred in defendant’s conviction of driving while impaired (“DWI”). I concur in the result to sustain defendant’s conviction. I disagree with the majority’s conclusion that the trial court did not err when it allowed State’s witness Paul Glover (“Glover”) to testify that defendant’s blood alcohol level was 0.08 at the time of the accident using an average retrograde extrapolation rate. Glover was never able to identify when Plaintiff drove her vehicle, and he admitted that the time of driving is a critical issue.
I. Expert Testimony
Defendant argues “at best, the admission of Mr. Glover’s testimony was highly misleading, prejudicial and confusing.” I agree.
The trial court admitted, over defendant’s specific objection, Glover’s testimony that . . . defendant had a 0.08 at the time of the accident. Glover relied on average extrapolation rate, pure *112hearsay, instead of defendant’s actual elimination rate to reach his conclusions. Glover failed to establish any connection or common attributes to correlate the average extrapolation rate to defendant’s actual rate to establish relevancy.
State v. Taylor, 165 N.C. App. 750, 759, 600 S.E.2d 483, 490 (2004) (Tyson J. concurring) (internal quotations omitted). In the absence of any testimony that correlated the alcohol elimination rate to defendant’s specific characteristics, this testimony is irrelevant and prejudicial. However, defendant failed to object to either the jury instructions or the verdict sheet and failed to preserve this issue for our review.
The judge instructed the jury as follows:
If you find from the evidence beyond a reasonable doubt that on or about March 27, 2004, the defendant drove a vehicle on a highway or street in this state, and that when she did so, she was under the influence of an impairing substance, or had consumed sufficient alcohol that at any relevant time after the driving the defendant had an alcohol concentration of .08 or more, it would be your duty to return a verdict of guilt. If do you not so find or if you have a reasonable doubt as to one or more of these things, it would be your duty to return a verdict of not guilty.
Now, in the absence of the 12 trial jurors, any objection, corrections, or additions to the charge?
[Defendant’s attorney]: To the charge, Your Honor?
Court: Yes.
[Defendant’s attorney]: No, no, Your Honor.
This Court has stated:
Nothing in the record indicates defendant requested the jury designate on the verdict sheet which prong it found defendant to have violated. As defendant failed to: (1) request separate instructions; (2) object to the trial court’s instructions; (3) assign error to the instructions; or (4) request that the jury determine on the verdict sheet under which prong of the statute they found her guilty or argue plain error, this issue is not reviewable. The trial *113court properly denied defendant’s motion to dismiss. This assignment of error is overruled.
State v. Wood, 174 N.C. App. 790, 796, 622 S.E.2d 120, 124 (2005).
Although Glover’s irrelevant and improper testimony prejudiced defendant, Corporal Duane Flood’s (“Corporal Flood”) and Officer Jennifer Brown’s (“Officer Brown”) testimony together with defendant’s admission that she had “consumed alcohol prior to driving, a fact confirmed by the breathalyzer result” were sufficient evidence to prove defendant operated a motor vehicle while she was under the influence of an impairing substance. Id. Corporal Flood testified that he observed a strong odor of alcohol on defendant’s breath, and defendant’s eyes were bloodshot, glassy and red. Officer Brown also observed a strong odor of alcohol and that defendant was not steady on her feet.
This Court has stated:
Other testimony sufficiently supports the jury’s conviction of defendant under N.C. Gen. Stat. § 20-138.1(a) (1) of driving “[w]hile under the influence of an impairing substance.” See State v. Coker, 312 N.C. 432, 440, 323 S.E.2d 343, 349 (1984) (N.C. Gen. Stat. § 20-138.1 creates one offense that “may be proved by either or both theories.”) see also State v. Mark, 154 N.C. App. 341, 346, 571 S.E.2d 867, 871 (2002), aff'd, 357 N.C. 242, 580 S.E.2d 693 (2003) (“The opinion of a law enforcement officer . . . has consistently been held sufficient evidence of impairment.”). “An officer’s opinion that a defendant is appreciably impaired is competent testimony and admissible evidence when it is based on the officer’s personal observation.of an odor of alcohol and of faulty driving or other evidence of impairment.” State v. Gregory, 154 N.C. App. 718, 721, 572 S.E.2d 838, 840 (2002) (citation omitted).

Id.

II. Conclusion
Defendant failed to object and preserve any error to the jury’s instructions or to request the jury specifically find which prong of the statute she was guilty of committing. “The trial court did not err in denying defendant’s motion to dismiss the charge of impaired driving.” Id. I concur in the result reached by the majority’s opinion and vote to sustain defendant’s conviction.