Court Opinion

ID: 9746718
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-27 14:34:46.402213+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T07:25:16.158439
License: Public Domain

Grimes, C.J.,
dissenting: The defendant was being tried by jury on a charge of operating a motor vehicle while under the influence *689of intoxicating liquor in violation of RSA 262-A:62. There was evidence introduced by agreement that a breathalyzer test showed a reading of 0.26%. A videotape taken at the police station apparently showed that the defendant performed well in so-called sobriety tests. The trial judge asked police officer Tanguay, a State’s witness, how he could reconcile the defendant’s performance on videotape with the breathalyzer reading and if there was anything wrong with the breathalyzer machine. The officer responded that there was nothing wrong with the machine but, in his opinion, the defendant had a high tolerance for alcohol and was a heavy drinker, possibly an alcoholic. The defendant moved for a mistrial which was denied by the court, who instructed the jury to disregard the answer, which was stricken.
I fail to see how the answer was so prejudicial that the instruction could not cure any possible harm. The question by the trial court was not improper, see State v. White, 91 N.H. 109, 14 A.2d 253 (1930); State v. Davis, 83 N.H. 435, 144 A. 124 (1928), nor is judicial overreaching involved. The answer could in fact be considered helpful to the defendant. His main, if not his only, defense in view of the high breathalyzer reading was that he was not in fact influenced by alcohol as shown by his performance in the sobriety tests. The test for being under the influence of intoxicating liquor is whether the reflexes and other functions of the defendant have been adversely affected. See State v. Arsenault, 115 N.H. 109, 336 A.2d 244 (1975). Blood alcohol is simply evidence of intoxication. But evidence that a person has a high tolerance for alcohol would permit the jury to give greater weight to the evidence of a good performance in the sobriety tests and reduce the weight to be given the breathalyzer test and could therefore lead to a finding of no influence in spite of a high blood alcohol reading.
Moreover, the officer stated that from his experience a person who has high tolerance for alcohol can have a high alcohol intake and yet not have his reflexes and other physical abilities affected— in other words, not be under the influence.
I am not convinced that there was any prejudice that was not removed by the instruction to disregard the answer and conclude that there was no error in the denial of the mistrial, which itself constitutes a finding of no prejudice. See State v. Snow, 98 N.H. 1, 93 A.2d 831 (1953); State v. Hale, 85 N.H. 403, 160 A. 95 (1932). The trial court was in a better position than we to decide whether its instruction cured any possible prejudice. Brigham v. Hudson Motors, Inc., 118 N.H. 590, 595, 392 A.2d 130, 134 (1978); Heath v. Joyce, 114 N.H. 620, 623, 326 A.2d 260, 262 (1974); Wilcomb v. *690Duston, 82 N.H. 180, 181, 131 A. 596, 597 (1926); see State v. Arthur, 118 N.H. 561, 564, 391 A.2d 884, 886 (1978).
Bois, J., joins in this dissent.