Court Opinion

ID: 9587714
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-21 23:25:33.54998+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T13:34:33.939039
License: Public Domain

McMurray, Presiding Judge.
Defendant appeals his conviction of the offense of driving under the influence of alcohol. Held:
Defendant was driving a vehicle which was stopped by a state trooper due to a loud muffler. The officer did not see anything about defendant’s driving that indicated he was driving under the influence of alcohol. Upon stopping defendant the officer discovered that defendant’s breath smelled of alcohol, his eyes were very bloodshot and he was unsteady on his feet, that is, he “wobbled back and forth” while he was talking to the officer. Subsequently, an intoximeter test was administered and defendant registered .10 grams percent alcohol.
The offense of driving under the influence of alcohol in violation of OCGA § 40-6-391 (a) (1) includes as one of its elements that defendant’s consumption of alcohol had rendered him a less safe driver. Taylor v. State, 184 Ga. App. 368 (361 SE2d 667). Defendant contends that his conviction was not authorized by the evidence since there was no evidence that he was so under the influence of alcohol *304that it rendered him a less safe driver.
The evidence of the alcohol content of defendant’s blood was sufficient “to authorize the conclusion that he was ‘under the influence of alcohol’ within the contemplation of OCGA § 40-6-391 (a) (1).” Collum v. State, 186 Ga. App. 822 (368 SE2d 578). This evidence combined with the evidence of defendant’s bloodshot eyes and unsteadiness on his feet was sufficient for a rational trier of fact to reasonably find defendant guilty of driving under the influence of alcohol beyond a reasonable doubt. Jackson v. Virginia, 443 U. S. 307 (99 SC 2781, 61 LE2d 560); Collum v. State, 186 Ga. App. 822, supra.

Judgment affirmed.

Birdsong, C. J., Banke, P. J., and Carley, J., concur. Deen, P. J., concurs and also concurs specially. Beasley, J., concurs specially. Sognier, Pope and Benham, JJ., dissent.