State v. Bayle

• Court: Hawaii Supreme Court
• Writing for the Court: Duffy
• Citation: State v. Bayle, 185 P.3d 186, 118 Haw. 1 (Haw. 2008)
• Decision Date: 29 May 2008
• Docket Number: No. 27954.,27954.
• Parties: STATE of Hawai`i, Respondent/Plaintiff-Appellee v. David H. BAYLY, Petitioner/Defendant-Appellant.

185 P.3d 186

118 Haw. 1

STATE of Hawai`i, Respondent/Plaintiff-Appellee v. David H. BAYLY, Petitioner/Defendant-Appellant.

No. 27954.

Supreme Court of Hawai`i.

May 29, 2008.

Sandra Kim (Jon N. Ikenaga, on the application and Teresa D. Morrison, on the brief), Deputy Public Defenders, for petitioner/defendant-appellant.

Renee Ishikawa-Delizo (Gerald K. Enriques, on the brief), Deputy Prosecuting Attorneys, for respondent/plaintiff-appellee.

MOON, C.J., LEVINSON, ACOBA, and DUFFY, JJ., with NAKAYAMA, J., Concurring in the Result Only.

Opinion of the Court by DUFFY, J.

Petitioner/Defendant-Appellant David H. Bayly seeks review of the October 11, 2007 judgment of the Intermediate Court of Appeals (ICA), which affirmed the district court of the second circuit's March 31, 2006 final judgment adjudging Bayly guilty of inattention to driving in violation of Hawai'i Revised Statutes (HRS) § 291-12 (Supp.2006).¹ We accepted Bayly's application for a writ of certiorari and oral argument was held on April 17, 2008.

Bayly asserts that the ICA gravely erred in affirming his conviction because there was insufficient evidence to prove that he operated a vehicle without due care or in a manner as to cause a collision with, or injury or damage to, as the case may be, any person, vehicle or other property.

Based on the following, we reverse the ICA's judgment.

I. BACKGROUND

On December 6, 2005, Bayly was charged by complaint with Operating a Vehicle Under the Influence of an Intoxicant (OUI) in violation of HRS § 291E-61,² and inattention to driving, in violation of HRS § 291-12.³ A bench trial was held on March 31, 2006.

A. Relevant Evidence Adduced at Trial

The following facts are drawn from the testimony of Officer Mark Hada and defendant Bayly at trial.

On October 1, 2005, at around 12:10 a.m., the Maui Police Department dispatch sent Wailuku patrol units to the parking lot of 1325 Lower Main Street, on the island of Maui. Officer Hada, who was assigned to the traffic department at that time, heard the dispatch and arrived at the scene at approximately 12:30 a.m. Officer Hada was told by other officers at the scene that the driver was suspected of being intoxicated.

Officer Hada described the parking lot at 1325 Lower Main Street as a flat, paved concrete parking lot. The parking lot was an elevated structure, raised about seven to eight feet above Lower Main Street, which is north of the lot, and separated by a concrete wall. Between the edge of the parking lot and the concrete wall is a grassy dirt area approximately two feet wide. The parking lot is raised about one foot to one foot and a half above the grassy dirt area. The parking spaces are angled so that vehicles on the side where Bayly's truck was parked face northwest. Officer Hada observed that the lighting in the area was "very adequate," and that weather conditions were clear.

Although Bayly was not in the vehicle at the time Officer Hada arrived, Hada testified that the front driver's side of Bayly's truck was hanging off of the concrete parking area and was onto the grassy area. Hada did not notice any damage to any property or to Bayly's truck.

According to Officer Hada, the truck was stuck in this position, and "there was not enough torque in the vehicle to actually reverse it out without having to call for a tow."

After approaching Bayly, Officer Hada observed that Bayly was disheveled, had a circular and side-to-side sway, had a strong odor of liquor, and had red, watery eyes, and slurred and mumbling speech. Hada also testified that Bayly was "very arrogant, very cocky, very uncooperative" in his interactions with the officer. Hada performed the horizontal and vertical gaze nystagmus field sobriety tests on Bayly, and based on his observations arrested Bayly for OUI.⁴ Bayly was given a blood test at 2:15 a.m., and the parties stipulated that the test showed Bayly to have 0.068 grams of alcohol per 100 milliliters of blood.⁵

At trial, Officer Hada was shown a video of the parking lot at Lower Main Street. Upon viewing the video, Hada recalled that there was a yellow "bumpster [sic]" in the parking stalls where Bayly's truck had been parked, and that the driver's side tire of Bayly's vehicle was off the ledge. When asked whether the "other side was still on" the parking lot, Hada testified that he thought it was "partially off" and "believ[ed] it was hanging on the edge."

Bayly, testifying on his own behalf, stated that it was the front passenger side of his truck that went off the edge of the parking lot, while the left tire or driver's side was touching the bumper.⁶ According to Bayly, he slowly entered the parking lot stall to ensure that his truck would touch the yellow bumper with the driver's side tire so that he would know when to stop. Bayly explained his car going off the edge as follows:

Unfortunately that bumper isn't even attached to the concrete and it was put in a position to where my right side went off the embankment at the same time that I was technically trying to be, you know, touch that bumper with my tire.

Bayly added that he thought his car going off the edge "ha[d] to do with a bad parking stall," not "anything to do with impairment or judgment." With respect to the bumper, Bayly also stated that they are "completely loose," and that "there's holes in them where they're supposed to be mounted in the parking lot so that they're stationary, but they're not. They're loose."

On cross-examination, Bayly testified that he had been to the parking lot once before in the daytime, but that he was not aware of the "parking situation" on the side of the lot in which his car was parked on the night of the incident. Bayly admitted that he had consumed two beers that night.

Before ruling, the district court summarized the factual findings relevant to the inattention to driving charge based on the testimony and video evidence. With respect to the location of the vehicle, the court reiterated that Officer Hada testified that the front end of the vehicle's driver's side tire was over the parking concrete area, and based on the video stated that there was a foot to a foot-and-a-half drop to the grassy dirt area below. The court reiterated Officer Hada's testimony that the bottom of Bayly's vehicle was touching the concrete area and that the vehicle's tire was hanging over the front. Regarding the yellow bumper, the court found that it was heavy but mobile with some force, and did not cover the whole length of the parking stall, such that one tire of a vehicle could pass to the side of the bumper and end up in the grassy dirt area.

B. Procedural History

After a bench trial, the district court acquitted Bayly of the OUI charge, but found him guilty of inattention to driving. The court explained the basis for Bayly's conviction as follows:

Count two deals with the inattention to driving and, again, the date and the defendant driving is not in contest. . . . The Court needs to determine here whether or not Mr. Bayly did operate a vehicle without due care or in a manner as to cause a collision with injury or damage to a person, vehicle, or other property.

. . . .

So this particular case, as far as the inattention to driving, the Court does find that Mr. Bayly was operating his vehicle without due care. I looked at the definitions of intentionally, knowingly and recklessly which would apply in this particular area and the Court finds either by the defendant's intentional actions, by his knowing actions or by his reckless actions, that he definitely was acting without due care in this particular manner.

I do understand that driving is a multitask kind of activity whereby you need your hands to drive, your feet to operate the gas pedal, your eyes to watch the road, and your brain to compute all of this.

Obviously the application of force on a gas pedal combined with slowed reaction time due to the drinking, that Mr. Bayly at the very least admitted to two beers, not being able to stop in time, and ending up in this grassy area. The Court does find definitely that he did operate his vehicle without due care.

So the Court does find the defendant guilty of count two and finds the defendant — the officer, Dr. Wong's testimony to be very credible in this particular area, and I'll find the defendant guilty of count two.

Bayly appealed, contending, as he does in his application, that there was insufficient evidence to support his conviction.

The ICA affirmed the judgment of the district court, entering its judgment on October 11, 2007. In its SDO, the ICA stated that "HRS § 291-12 specifies that the elements of inattention to driving are that a person: (1) operated a vehicle, (2) without due care or in a manner as to cause, (3) a collision with, or injury or damage to, as the case may be, any person, vehicle, or other property." ICA's SDO at 2. After reviewing each element, the court found that sufficient evidence existed for each. The first element, operation of a vehicle, was admitted. Id. The ICA found that there was sufficient evidence for the second element, operation without due care, based on the following:

Officer Hada testified that the area was adequately lit. Further, while the parties disagreed as to which tire went over the edge of the parking surface, the parties agree that one wheel did in fact go over the edge. Bayly's truck ended up hanging off the edge of the parking lot, immobilized to the point where a tow truck was required to extricate it. Based on the evidence, the district court could have inferred that Bayly was not operating his vehicle with due care. Bayly admitted consuming two beers prior to parking the vehicle. Officer Hada testified that Bayly displayed signs of intoxication and was arrogant and cocky. Dr. Wong testified that Bayly's likely level of impairment at the time of the incident was a blood alcohol content in excess of .08 grams. Evidence of impairment is "germane to a charge of...