Diaz v. State

• Decision Date: 23 January 2018
• Docket Number: A17A1821
• Parties: DIAZ v. The STATE.
• Court: Georgia Court of Appeals

344 Ga.App. 291

810 S.E.2d 566

DIAZ

v.The STATE.

A17A1821

Court of Appeals of Georgia.

January 23, 2018

Sanchez Hayes & Associates, Rudjard M. Hayes, for appellant.

Peter J. Skandalakis, District Attorney, Kevin T. McMurry, Assistant District Attorney, for appellee.

Reese, Judge.

A jury found Robert Diaz guilty of homicide by vehicle in the first degree, driving under the combined influence ("DUI") of drugs to the extent that it was less safe for him to drive, and failure to maintain a lane.¹ He appeals from the judgment on his convictions, arguing that the trial court erred in admitting the results of a state-administered blood test, his statement to a law enforcement officer, and evidence that he was impaired by drugs on days other than the date of the collision at issue. For the reasons set forth infra we affirm.

Viewed in the light most favorable to the trial court’s rulings on the motions to exclude the evidence at issue,² the record reveals the following facts. On the evening of May 24, 2014, the Appellant, while driving a white Toyota Tundra pickup truck, drove through a neighbor’s yard and over the neighbor’s mailbox. The Appellant walked to the front door of the house while carrying the mailbox and told the neighbor that he was sorry and was going to buy him a new mailbox. According to the neighbor, the Appellant was crying and "jittery," his eyes were red, and he asked the neighbor not to tell his (the Appellant’s) wife what had happened. After the Appellant left, the neighbor called 911 and reported the incident.

At approximately 9:55 p.m. the same evening, a Georgia State Patrol trooper, Glen Hand, was driving to work when he came upon an accident scene involving a white Toyota Tundra pickup truck and a Hyundai automobile. He reported the accident to the dispatcher and asked for assistance by police and emergency personnel. Trooper Hand then went to the pickup truck, which was lying on its driver’s side in the middle of the road. The driver of the pickup truck, later identified as the Appellant, was moaning and unable to get out of the truck. Emergency responders arrived, extracted the Appellant from the truck, and placed him on a stretcher. At that point, Trooper Hand asked the Appellant for identifying information so he could inform the Appellant’s family about the collision. The Appellant said that he did not want Trooper Hand to contact his (the Appellant’s) family. According to the officer, the Appellant had "thick tongue type speech" that was slow and "slurred," but the Appellant appeared to understand the officer’s questions and was able to tell the officer his address and where he had been coming from at the time of the collision. The emergency responders then transported the Appellant to the Atlanta

Medical Center for treatment of his injuries.

While Trooper Hand assisted at the accident scene, he learned that the driver of the Hyundai had died of injuries from the collision. Further, an eyewitness told Trooper Hand that he had seen the Appellant’s truck "all over the road" before the vehicles collided head-on in the other driver’s lane. Another officer also notified Trooper Hand that, shortly before the collision, someone had called 911 to report that the driver of a Toyota Tundra pickup truck had driven through the caller’s yard, run over a mailbox, and appeared to be impaired.

After leaving the accident site, Trooper Hand drove to the Atlanta Medical Center to conduct a further investigation of the collision. The Appellant was in the emergency department and had already received a CT scan

and medications for pain and nausea when Trooper Hand arrived. A registered nurse was also in the Appellant’s room. Trooper Hand re-introduced himself and told the Appellant that he was there to investigate the collision and was going to read him the implied consent notice. According to the officer, the Appellant was alert and appeared to understand what was being said, and, when the Appellant asked about the other driver and learned that he had died in the collision, the Appellant "teared up." Then, before the officer read the implied consent notice or questioned the Appellant, the Appellant stated that he had self-administered methadone earlier in the day and that there was possibly some other "stuff" in his system.³ The officer did not ask any follow-up questions about the Appellant’s statement.

Trooper Hand read the Appellant the implied consent notice while the registered nurse was still present in the room.⁴ In addition, the officer asked the Appellant to sign an official voluntary consent form authorizing a blood test, and the Appellant signed the form in the officer’s presence. Trooper Hand testified that the Appellant did not say anything or display any conduct that indicated that he was unable to consent to the blood test or that his consent was not given freely and voluntarily.⁵ After the Appellant signed the consent form, the nurse drew a blood sample from him, and the sample was sent to the Georgia Bureau of Investigation’s Division of Forensic Sciences (hereinafter, "state crime lab") to be tested for alcohol and drugs.

According to a forensic toxicologist employed by the state crime lab, the Appellant’s blood test results showed that he had methadone

and Clonazepam (benzodiazepine) in his system. The toxicologist testified that Clonazepam is a central nervous system depressant that causes sedation, drowsiness, slow movement, mental clouding, and distractibility, among other things, and is prescribed to treat anxiety and insomnia. On the other hand, methadone is a narcotic analgesic or pain killer that is often used in the treatment of people who are addicted to opioids and other pain medications. The forensic toxicologist testified that methadone also has some central nervous system depressant effects and, when combined with Clonazepam, the sedative effect on a person’s brain is exaggerated, although the person could also experience a "euphoria" or a "high that is comparable to heroin" when combining the drugs.

An investigation and accident reconstruction conducted by law enforcement officers revealed that, at 9:52 p.m., the Appellant’s pickup truck crossed into the opposite lane of traffic and collided head-on with the Hyundai. Based upon the results of the investigation and the blood test results, the Appellant was arrested and charged with homicide by vehicle, DUI, and failure to maintain a lane.

In addition to the above evidence, the State presented evidence during the Appellant’s jury trial that the Appellant had been receiving daily methadone

treatment for opiate addiction for several months prior to the collision at issue. The health care provider who treated the Appellant on the day of the collision testified that, at 10:09 a.m., the Appellant ingested 40 milligrams of methadone. She also gave him two 40-milligram doses for him to self-administer during the next two days. According to a physician employed by the methadone clinic, the Appellant never informed the clinic that he was also taking Clonazepam (benzodiazepine) that had been prescribed by another physician.

Further, the physician who had prescribed Clonazepam

for the Appellant in April and May 2014 testified that he always asks his patients if they are taking any other medications, and the Appellant never told him that he was undergoing daily methadone treatment. The physician testified that, if he had known the Appellant was taking methadone daily, he would not have given him a benzodiazepine prescription. The physician explained that clinics that provided methadone treatment explicitly prohibited their patients from taking any other controlled substances with a potential for abuse, such as benzodiazepine. Another reason he did not prescribe benzodiazepine in such situations was because combining a narcotic pain medication, such as methadone, with benzodiazepine could result in "additive or synergistic effects," such as sedation, confusion, and addiction. In addition, the physician testified that he always warns his patients who are taking benzodiazepine that they should not drive after taking the medication because they could be impaired and, as a result, charged with DUI. In fact, for this reason, he specifically changed the Appellant’s prescription for Clonazepam so that he was only supposed to take it at night.

Finally, the State presented evidence that the Appellant had previously driven his truck while he appeared to be under the influence of alcohol or drugs,⁶ and that, on one of those occasions, he hit a parked car in a shopping center parking lot.⁷ The State also showed the jury video-recordings of the Appellant taken by a family member a few hours before the collision in this case; the recordings appeared to show that the Appellant was impaired.⁸

Following the jury’s guilty verdicts on all three charges, the trial court sentenced the Appellant to serve 16 years in prison. On appeal from his convictions, the Appellant argues that the trial court improperly admitted several items of evidence that he claims were illegally obtained, irrelevant, and/or unduly prejudicial. He contends that, if such evidence had not been admitted, the remaining evidence would have been insufficient to support the jury’s verdict and, as a result, his convictions must be reversed. We disagree.

On appeal from a criminal conviction, we view the evidence in the light most favorable to the verdict and an appellant no longer enjoys the presumption of innocence. This Court determines whether the evidence is sufficient under the standard of Jackson v. Virginia ,^{[9 ]} and does not weigh the evidence or determine witness credibility. Any conflicts or inconsistencies in the evidence are for the jury to resolve. As long as there is some competent evidence, even though contradicted, to support each fact necessary to make out the State’s case, we must uphold the jury’s verdict.¹⁰

The standard of Jackson v. Virginia ,¹¹ is met if the evidence is sufficient for...