State v. Lyons
| Decision Date | 24 March 2021 |
| Docket Number | DOCKET NO. A-3017-19 |
| Parties | STATE OF NEW JERSEY, Plaintiff-Respondent, v. MICHAEL LYONS, Defendant-Appellant. |
| Court | New Jersey Superior Court — Appellate Division |
NOT FOR PUBLICATION WITHOUT THE APPROVAL OF THE APPELLATE DIVISION
This opinion shall not "constitute precedent or be binding upon any court." Although it is posted on the internet, this opinion is binding only on the parties in the case and its use in other cases is limited. R. 1:36-3.
Before Judges Ostrer and Vernoia.
On appeal from the Superior Court of New Jersey, Law Division, Hudson County, Municipal Appeal No. 20-19.
Buchan & Palo, LLC, attorneys for appellant (Kevin A. Buchan, on the briefs).
Esther Suarez, Hudson County Prosecutor, attorney for respondent (Lillian Kayed, Assistant Prosecutor, on the brief).
Defendant Michael Lyons appeals from a Law Division order, entered after a trial de novo on an appeal from the Hoboken Municipal Court, finding him guilty of driving while driving under the influence of intoxicating liquor (DUI), N.J.S.A. 39:4-50(a); failure to report an accident, N.J.S.A. 39:4-130; and leaving the scene of an accident, N.J.S.A. 39:4-129(b). Defendant argues his convictions should be reversed because the State failed to present evidence establishing the necessary elements of each offense. Having reviewed the record and the parties' arguments, we are persuaded the evidence supports the court's finding defendant is guilty of DUI, but there is insufficient evidence supporting its determination defendant is guilty of leaving the scene of an accident and failure to report an accident. We reverse defendant's convictions for the latter two offenses and affirm his DUI conviction.
The State presented two witnesses during the municipal court trial. Hoboken Police Officer Edward Lepre testified that in that late evening of April 28, 2019, he was dispatched to the intersection of Third and Grant Streets to investigate a report of a vehicle striking a parked car several times. He met a woman at the scene who provided a description of the vehicle. He reported thedescription to the dispatcher who then broadcasted it to the other officers on patrol.
The State also called Hoboken Police Officer Joseph Cahill as a witness at trial. He is a thirty-five-year veteran of the Hoboken Police Department and has extensive training in DUI investigations and the administration of field sobriety tests and Alcotest breath tests. Cahill was on duty on the evening of defendant's arrest. As part of his duties, he was assigned to pick up a police department dispatcher and transport the dispatcher to police headquarters.
As he drove to pick up the dispatcher, he observed a small gray SUV pass through an intersection. When he first observed the vehicle, Cahill "thought [it] didn't have [its] lights on," but after Cahill turned at an intersection and travelled behind the SUV, he observed the lights on the SUV turn on "just before" it stopped at a stop sign. Cahill stopped his vehicle to pick up the dispatcher, and he saw the SUV turn into a parking lot on Adams Street.
Cahill then heard the dispatcher broadcast a description of a "small gray SUV" with New Jersey license plates that "fled" the scene of the accident Lepre had investigated. Cahill transported the dispatcher to the police department and drove to the reported accident scene. He observed a parked vehicle with "[t]he left rear quarter panel and rear bumper . . . pushed in as if somebody was drivingin that area and struck" the vehicle. Cahill left the scene and went to the parking lot where he had earlier seen the small gray SUV enter.
Upon entering the lot, Cahill saw defendant standing outside of a small gray SUV. Defendant held onto the open driver's door and appeared to have just finished urinating. The vehicle's engine was running. Cahill observed defendant's "fly was undone," "[h]is pants were wet . . . from urinating," and "[t]here was a big puddle on the ground."
Cahill approached defendant. Cahill described defendant as "highly intoxicated." He asked defendant if the vehicle was his, and defendant said "yes." Cahill testified defendant had bloodshot and watery eyes, "had a very strong odor of alcoholic beverage flavoring," and could not stand in place. Defendant "sway[ed] back and forth" and held "onto the car for support." Defendant also "slurr[ed] his words," and, when Cahill asked for identification, defendant "went through his wallet several times passing his license before" handing it over. Cahill observed "damage on the right front side . . . of [defendant's] vehicle" that "would match up more or less with the same . . . damage on the . . . parked vehicle" at the alleged accident scene.
Cahill testified he arrested defendant but did not perform any field sobriety tests because defendant's inability to stand made the tests unsafe. WhileCahill placed handcuffs on defendant, defendant lost his balance, and it was necessary for Cahill to "grab" defendant to "do a controlled fall to the ground." By that time, other officers had arrived. Four officers were required to help defendant off the ground and place him in Cahill's vehicle. Once at the police station, four officers were required to remove defendant from Cahill's vehicle. After he was removed, "defendant fell to his knees," and four officers were required to get defendant to his feet.
After defendant entered the station, Cahill administered Alcotest breath tests.1 During the process prior to the administration of the tests and following the administration of Miranda2 warnings, Cahill asked defendant if he had been drinking. Cahill testified that defendant said he drank four or five "Harp beer[s]."
On cross-examination, Cahill acknowledged he did not see defendant operate the vehicle, but he explained defendant stood beside the vehicle with theengine running and no one else around. While at the police station, Cahill asked defendant about his medical history, and defendant said he had high blood pressure and diabetes. Cahill testified he did not believe his observations of defendant were consistent with someone suffering from a diabetic episode because defendant was "highly intoxicated."
Defendant presented one witness, Herbert Leckie, who the court qualified as an expert in the administration of field sobriety tests, DUI investigations, and "the interrelationship of medical conditions including diabetes and high blood pressure and the impact that it may have on intoxication or the appearance of intoxicat[ion]." Leckie described the standard field sobriety tests—the one-legged stand, horizontal gaze nystagmus, and walk-and-turn tests—and explained that alternative tests—"the alphabet test, the counting-backwards test, a finger dexterity test," and the "normal abilities test"—may be performed when the standard tests are not possible. Leckie testified there was no reason defendant could not have been asked to perform the alternative tests prior to his arrest or at the police station.
Leckie also testified that "if the person [is] a diabetic and experiencing a diabetic emergency[,] . . . that can oftentimes mimic the signs and symptoms of impairment." He also explained that "[t]he person will appear lethargic, not beable to put together sentences, [have] slurred speech, their physical coordination would be impaired based upon that condition," and the person may emit a mouth odor that can mimic alcohol. On cross-examination, however, Leckie acknowledged he was unaware of any evidence defendant suffered a diabetic emergency on the evening of his arrest.
The municipal court judge rendered an opinion from the bench finding the defendant "was in physical possession of the vehicle" and had "intent to operate the vehicle" because he was standing next to it with the engine running and no one else around. The court also found Cahill's observations of defendant established defendant was under the influence of intoxicating liquor and therefore violated the DUI statute, N.J.S.A. 39:4-50(a).
The municipal court judge further found Cahill's testimony that "the damage to . . . defendant's vehicle and the paint transfer onto . . . defendant's vehicle matched the damage and the color of the vehicle . . . that was struck while parked" established beyond a reasonable doubt defendant had been involved in an accident with the parked vehicle. Based on that finding, the court concluded defendant left the scene of the accident in violation of N.J.S.A. 39:4-129(b), and failed to report an accident in violation of N.J.S.A. 39:4-130.
The municipal court judge sentenced defendant to a two-year license suspension on the DUI conviction and a concurrent six-month suspension on the leaving the scene of an accident conviction. The court ordered that defendant attend forty-eight hours at the Intoxicated Driver's Resource Center on the DUI charge. The court also imposed fines, penalties, and court costs on each of the three offenses. The court stayed the concurrent license suspensions pending appeal subject to the condition that defendant install an ignition interlock device on his vehicle. Defendant timely appealed to the Law Division.
At the trial de novo in the Law Division, defendant argued Cahill's observations alone were insufficient to support a finding he was under the influence of an intoxicating liquor. He further claimed that contrary to the municipal court's finding, there was no evidence of a paint transfer between his vehicle and the parked vehicle that the State alleged had been involved in an accident. Defendant argued there was no competent evidence there had been an accident. Defendant also claimed that because there was no evidence there was an accident or that he was involved in an accident, he could not properly be convicted of either leaving the scene of an accident or failing to report an accident. Defendant further asserted the State failed to present evidence that the value of the property damage in the...
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