Court Opinion

ID: 9885030
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-10-06 03:28:03.646537+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T07:39:31.844121
License: Public Domain

OPINION
LANSING, Judge.
The State appeals a pretrial order suppressing evidence and dismissing DWI charges against Cynthia Vievering. The trial court ruled the officer did not have sufficient reason to request a preliminary breath test. We reverse and remand for trial.
FACTS
On the evening of April 27, 1985, State Trooper Marvin Felderman was patrolling 1-94 in Stearns County. He was accompanied by his supervisor, Lieutenant Roger Anhorn. Felderman observed an oncoming vehicle traveling with only one headlight and determined with his radar unit that its speed was approximately 67 miles per hour. Felderman immediately turned around, pursued, and stopped the vehicle.
*730Vievering was the driver. When Felder-man requested Vievering’s license, he detected a “rather strong” odor of alcohol about her. A passenger in the car also smelled of alcohol. Anhorn shined his flashlight into the car and saw two open cans of beer on the front floor of the passenger side. He pointed this out to Felderman, who asked both Vievering and the passenger to get into the squad car. Felderman then asked Vievering to take a preliminary breath test. After failing the preliminary breath test, Vievering was arrested for a DWI violation; a subsequent Intoxilyzer test revealed a .12 blood alcohol content.
Vievering moved to suppress the test results on the ground that Felderman did not have sufficient reason to request a preliminary breath test. The trial court granted the motion and dismissed the charge, ruling that a request for a preliminary breath test must be supported by an officer’s testimony that he believed the driver to be under the influence of alcohol.
ISSUE
Did the trial court err in concluding that the officer had insufficient reason to request a preliminary breath test?
ANALYSIS
Minn.Stat. § 169.121, subd. 6 (1984), provides:
When a peace officer has reason to believe from the manner in which a person is driving, operating, controlling or acting upon departure from a motor vehicle, or has driven, operated, or controlled a motor vehicle, that the driver may be violating or has violated [the DWI law], he may require the driver to provide a sample of his breath for a preliminary screening test * * *.
(Emphasis added). The supreme court has held that an officer may request a preliminary breath test if he possesses specific and articulable facts that form a basis to believe that a person is or has been driving, operating or controlling a motor vehicle while under the influence of an intoxicating beverage. State, Department of Public Safety v. Juncewski, 308 N.W.2d 316, 321 (Minn.1981). An officer need not possess probable cause to believe that a DWI violation has occurred in order to administer a preliminary breath test.
Felderman observed a speeding violation, detected a strong odor of alcohol on both Vievering and her passenger, and discovered two open cans of beer on the floor of the vehicle. These facts form a reasonable basis for Felderman to believe that Viever-ing was driving under the influence of alcohol. The officer had sufficient reason to request a preliminary breath test. See also Hager v. Commissioner of Public Safety, 382 N.W.2d 907 (Minn.Ct.App.1986).
Vievering argues that Felderman’s observations merely indicate that she had consumed alcohol, not that she was intoxicated. This distinction was raised and rejected in two recent cases. See Rude v. Commissioner of Public Safety, 347 N.W.2d 77, 80 (Minn.Ct.App.1984) (probable cause to require a chemical test); Vertina v. Commissioner of Public Safety, 356 N.W.2d 412, 413-14 (Minn.Ct.App.1984) (same). The distinction is even less sound when applied to a request for a preliminary breath test, because the officer need only possess “articulable facts” to support the request, rather than the higher standard of probable cause to support a request for a chemical test.
Finally, in Sarb v. Commissioner of Public Safety, 362 N.W.2d 405 (Minn.Ct.App.1985), this court held that an officer’s testimony as to his personal belief that a person was under the influence is not required as a matter of law to establish probable cause. The Sarb holding relegates the officer’s opinion testimony, or lack of it, to evidence considered in making a determination whether there was sufficient reason to request a preliminary breath test.
DECISION
The trial court erred in concluding that the officer had insufficient reason to re*731quest the preliminary breath test and in holding that a request for a preliminary breath test must be supported by an officer’s testimony that he believed the driver to be under the influence of alcohol.
Reversed and remanded for trial.
RANDALL, J., dissents.