Wilson v. Director of Revenue
| Decision Date | 30 January 2001 |
| Citation | 35 S.W.3d 923 |
| Parties | (Mo.App. W.D. 2001) . Clinton E. Wilson, Respondent v. Director of Revenue, Appellant. WD58677 Missouri Court of Appeals Western District Handdown Date: 0 |
| Court | Missouri Court of Appeals |
Appeal From: Circuit Court of Jackson County, Hon. Anthony J. Romano
Counsel for Appellant: Andrea Mazza Follett and Stacy L. Anderson
Counsel for Respondent: John E. Price
Opinion Summary: The Director of Revenue appeals the trial court judgmen setting aside the Director's revocation of Clinton Wilson's driving privileges and ordering their reinstatement.
REVERSED AND REMANDED WITH DIRECTIONS.
Division One holds: Where the Director's uncontroverted evidence showed Wilson was arrested for driving under the influence, that the arresting officers, based on their observations of Wilson and his poor performance on field sobriety tests, had reasonable grounds to believe Wilson was driving while intoxicated or drugged, and that Wilson refused to submit to a urine test after being informed of his rights and warned of the consequences of refusing, the Director satisfied the burden of proof supporting revocation of Wilson's driver's license. The trial court erred in setting aside the revocation.
Opinion Vote: REVERSED AND REMANDED WITH DIRECTIONS. Breckenridge, P.J. and Howard, J. concur.
The Director of Revenue appeals the judgment of the trial court setting aside the Director's revocation of Clinton Wilson's driving privileges and ordering their reinstatement. The Director contends that the trial court erred in setting aside the revocation of Mr. Wilson's driver's license pursuant to section 577.0411 because its judgment was against the weight of the evidence in that Mr. Wilson was arrested, the arresting officer had probable cause to believe that Mr. Wilson was driving under the influence, and Mr. Wilson failed to submit to a chemical test of his urine.
On the night of January 21, 2000, Officer Paul Thilges of the Kansas City, Missouri Police Department conducted a traffic stop of a vehicle. As he stopped the vehicle, the officer saw Mr. Wilson drive past him in a yellow Camaro. Officer Thilges had had contact with Mr. Wilson a month before and believed that Mr. Wilson did not have a valid driver's license. He, therefore, informed assisting officers Zachary Shroyer and Greg Wiley of his belief, and the officers stopped Mr. Wilson.
Officer Shroyer asked Mr. Wilson for his driver's license, and Mr. Wilson "appeared to have difficulty getting the license out." As Officer Shroyer determined that Mr. Wilson's license was valid, he noticed that Mr. Wilson was "lethargic" and was slow to answer questions. Officer Wiley observed that Mr. Wilson's eyes were "watery and bloodshot," and both officers detected a "moderate chemical odor" of unknown origin on Mr. Wilson's breath. Officer Shroyer had had contact with Mr. Wilson "numerous times in the past" and believed that he was a "rather sharp individual, coordinated." Mr. Wilson's actions on the night of the 21st, therefore, seemed "irregular" to the officer.
Officer Shroyer then asked Mr. Wilson to exit his vehicle. Officer Shroyer noticed Mr. Wilson's balance was "wobbly" and "unsteady" and that he had difficulty understanding instructions. The officers thought Mr. Wilson was under the influence of alcohol or drugs, so they requested a series of field sobriety tests. Although Mr. Wilson passed the horizontal gaze nystagmus test, he failed the walk and turn test and the one-legged stand test. Officer Shroyer testified that Mr. Wilson "stepped off the line" and "had difficulty touching heel to toe" on the walk and turn test. According to both officers, Mr. Wilson also failed the one-legged stand test. Failure on the field sobriety tests indicated to the officers that Mr. Wilson was under the influence of some controlled substance.
After both officers agreed that Mr.Wilson performed "very poor" on the sobriety tests, they arrested him for driving under the influence and took him into custody. The officers drove Mr. Wilson to the Central Zone police station, and Officer Larry Bewick administered a breath analyzer test to Mr. Wilson. Before administering the test, Officer Bewick testified that he detected a chemical odor on Mr. Wilson's breath and noticed his bloodshot eyes and unsteady balance. Officer Bewick read the implied consent law to Mr. Wilson, and Mr. Wilson agreed to take the breath analyzer test. The breath analyzer test revealed a blood alcohol content of .000%. Because of Mr. Wilson's physical impairment, Officer Bewick then contacted Officer Ralph Stewart, a Drug Recognition Expert, to determine if other drugs were responsible for Mr. Wilson's physical symptoms of intoxication.
Shortly after Officer Stewart began his examination, Mr. Wilson stated that he needed to urinate. The officer read the implied consent form to Mr. Wilson and asked him for a urine sample. He then accompanied Mr. Wilson to the restroom, where Mr. Wilson stood for four minutes before saying he did not need to urinate. The officer then conducted a battery of tests in which Mr. Wilson had to balance, estimate the passage of thirty seconds, touch his fingertip to his nose, and walk and turn. Approximately one hour later, Officer Stewart again asked Mr. Wilson to submit a urine sample, and Mr. Wilson again made no attempt to respond to the request or produce a sample. After Mr. Wilson's failure to produce a urine sample, Officer Stewart explained that because an hour had passed between requests for a urine sample he considered failure to produce the sample was a refusal to submit a valid test.
The Director revoked Mr. Wilson's driving privileges for one year for refusal to submit to a chemical test as required by section 577.041. Thereafter, Mr. Wilson filed his petition for a hearing before the trial court under section 577. 041.4. Following a hearing, the trial court set aside the Director's license revocation and ordered Mr. Wilson's driving privileges reinstated. This appeal by the Director followed.
The standard of review in this case is governed by Murphy v. Carron, 536 S.W.2d. 30 (Mo. banc 1976). Thus, the trial court's decision will be affirmed unless it is not supported by substantial evidence, it is against the weight of the evidence, or it misstates or misapplies the law. Id. at 32. An appellate court should set aside a judgment on the basis that it is against the weight of the evidence only when it has a firm belief that the judgment is wrong. Sutton v. Director of Revenue, 20 S.W.3d 918, 923 (...
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