Court Opinion

ID: 9674267
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-24 04:25:40.939253+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:16:26.444685
License: Public Domain

TIPTON, Judge,
concurring.
I wholly concur in the majority opinion except I must add to it regarding the issue of implied consent. Initially, although the defendant states that the jury found him “guilty” of violation of the implied consent law and his brief claims that the trial court erred in not granting him a judgment of acquittal, I note that the trial court’s minutes do not reflect that the jury acted upon this issue. The record reflects that the trial court found that a violation occurred as is provided by T.C.A. § 55-10-406(a)(3). Indeed, that subsection provides that, not only is the determination one for the court, a violation of the implied consent law is not a *679criminal offense. Thus, a conviction or finding of guilt by a jury is a superfluous and invalid action. To the same extent, the defendant’s seeking an “acquittal” is superfluous.
Further, as to the defendant’s claim that the evidence does not reflect that he was offered a “chemical test designed to determine the alcoholic or drug content of the blood,” which is the definition for “test” provided in T.C A. § 55-10-405(5), I believe that it is necessary that a defendant have some basic understanding of the purpose of the test being offered before his or her refusal can be considered a violation of the implied consent law. I question whether a mere offer of a “test,” without more, would be sufficient. However, when, as in this case, the evidence reflects that the defendant was driving a motor vehicle, had wrecked, had the odor of an alcoholic beverage about his person, had been given several field sobriety tests, had been arrested for DUI and taken to jail, and was standing by a breathalyzer machine when he was asked to take a “breath test,” it is entirely reasonable for a trial court to conclude, without adequate proof to the contrary, that the defendant was aware of the basic nature and purpose of the test, relative to alcohol in the body, being offered. Nothing more should be required.