Court Opinion

ID: 6828458
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2022-07-23 19:35:58.925569+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T16:04:28.389270
License: Public Domain

Moon, J.,
dissenting
I would affirm the decision of the trial court because the error, if any, was harmless beyond a reasonable doubt. Defendant did not seriously contend at any point in the trial that he was not under the influence. His defense was that he was not driving the car. The uncontradicted evidence was that he was unsteady on his feet, was weaving, had slurring speech and glassy eyes, that he had a heavy odor of alcohol on his person, and that he used profane language toward the police officer who arrested him. He admitted that he drank six to seven beers during the evening, before leaving a bar at midnight, and afterward drank as many as three beers in his car. He did not contradict the police officer in any respect concerning the police officer’s observations regarding his sobriety. Under the circumstances, I do not believe that any rational trier of fact would have found but that appellant was driving under the influence, even if the evidence of refusal to take the field sobriety tests had been excluded. Therefore, I would hold that any error in the evidence’s admission was harmless beyond a reasonable doubt.