Chamberlain v. State, A00A1622.
| Decision Date | 17 October 2000 |
| Docket Number | No. A00A1622.,A00A1622. |
| Citation | 541 S.E.2d 64,246 Ga. App. 423 |
| Parties | CHAMBERLAIN v. The STATE. |
| Court | Georgia Court of Appeals |
OPINION TEXT STARTS HERE
Chestney-Hawkins Law Firm, Wallace T. Hatcher, for appellant.
Gwendolyn R. Keyes, Solicitor, Thomas E. Csider, Allison W. Toller, Assistant Solicitors, for appellee.
Debra Chamberlain appeals her conviction of driving under the influence of alcohol and failure to maintain her car in the appropriate lane. She claims that the trial court erred in admitting evidence of her alleged refusal to take a state-administered breath test. Based on the language of the governing statute, OCGA § 40-6-392(a)(1)(B), we must agree and reverse.
On September 24, 1999, at approximately 11:00 p.m., Chamberlain was driving south on Clairmont Road in Atlanta, crossed the centerline, and hit another car, injuring the driver. The driver of the car behind her had noticed that she was driving erratically before the collision.
DeKalb County Police Officer Davis investigated the collision. After arriving at the scene and inquiring about the cause of the collision, he placed Chamberlain in his patrol car until emergency personnel arrived to examine her and the driver of the other car. At that time, he noticed an odor of alcohol on her breath. Officer Davis testified that Chamberlain initially told him that she had not been drinking but later admitted that she had consumed several drinks. He asked Chamberlain to perform several field sobriety tests. She missed several letters while trying to recite the alphabet, was unable to walk and turn on a straight line, could not perform the one-leg stand, and had problems with the horizontal gaze nystagmus test, which is designed to detect movement or twitching in the eye.
Officer Davis determined that Chamberlain's performance was consistent with that of someone under the influence of alcohol and arrested her. He read Chamberlain the Georgia Implied Consent Notice and took her to the DeKalb County Jail for further testing. Chamberlain agreed to take a breath test, which was conducted by Officer Hibbert and witnessed by Officer Davis. Officer Hibbert explained the procedure to Chamberlain and told her that she had to provide two breath samples, which would comprise one test. Chamberlain blew into the machine one time and provided an adequate sample that produced a printed alcohol concentration analysis. She did not blow hard enough to produce a sufficient sample the second time. At that time, she requested a blood test. The officers told Chamberlain that she could not have the blood test until she provided the second breath sample. They offered no other reason for denying her an independent test.
Chamberlain testified that she was physically unable to provide the second breath sample and that she told the officers that she had a history of Legionnaire's Disease, a respiratory infection. She testified that she requested a blood test because of her inability to produce a second sufficient breath sample.
Chamberlain filed a motion in limine to exclude any evidence of her alleged refusal to submit to the state-administered breath test. The trial court ruled that the results of the initial breath sample were inadmissible because the State is required to obtain two samples and that the refusal to provide a second breath sample constituted a refusal to take the test, which was admissible and also negated Chamberlain's right to an independent test. The jury found Chamberlain guilty of driving under the influence of alcohol and failure to maintain her car in the appropriate lane.
On appeal, Chamberlain asserts that the trial court erred in admitting evidence alleging that she refused to take the state-administered breath test. She claims that she did provide an adequate sample, which did not constitute a refusal; that she was entitled to the independent blood test she requested; and that the failure to provide that test should have precluded any testimony regarding the state-administered test.
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Smith v. State
...as requested by the State, did not affect the admissibility of the results of the first sample."), quoting Chamberlain v. State, 246 Ga.App. 423, 425, 541 S.E.2d 64 (2000).21 We reach the issues in Divisions 3 and 4 because Smith, in pre-trial briefing and at argument during a pre-trial hea......
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Thrasher v. State
...to the facts. (Citations and punctuation omitted.) State v. Tousley, 271 Ga.App. 874, 611 S.E.2d 139 (2005). In Chamberlain v. State, 246 Ga.App. 423, 424, 541 S.E.2d 64 (2000), this Court addressed a situation in which the defendant claimed that she was unable to produce a second breath sa......
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State v. Stewart
...to have refused to submit to the test if an adequate breath sample has not been provided." (Footnote omitted.) Chamberlain v. State, 246 Ga.App. 423, 425, 541 S.E.2d 64 (2000). See also Allen v. State, 229 Ga.App. 435, 436-438(1), 494 S.E.2d 229 (1997) (Where defendant repeatedly failed to ......
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State v. Braunecker, A02A0309.
...the right to this independent test, without justification, renders the State's test results inadmissible. Chamberlain v. State, 246 Ga.App. 423, 425, 541 S.E.2d 64 (2000). The trial court found that police unjustifiably denied Braunecker the right to an independent test. Our standard for re......