Kim v. State

Following a traffic accident in Dekalb County, Robert Jin Kim was convicted of DUI-less safe OCGA § 40-6-391, and failure to maintain his lane OCGA § 40-6-48. He now appeals, arguing that the trial court erred by admitting evidence of his DUI conviction from 2010 under OCGA § 24-4-403 Rule 403. After review, we affirm.

According to the evidence adduced at trial,1 in December 2010, a Gwinnett County police officer was on routine patrol at about 1:40 a.m. when he observed a car stopped at a traffic light. The driver, later identified as Kim, appeared to be asleep or passed out and did not move during the traffic light’s cycle. The officer approached the car, knocked on the glass, and awoke Kim. The officer could smell alcohol on Kim’s breath and in the car, and Kim’s speech was mumbled and slurred. After Kim agreed to participate in field sobriety tests, he exhibited four out of six clues on the HGN test, five out of eight clues on the walk-and-turn test, and three clues on the one-legged stand. When asked, Kim agreed to take an alco-sensor test, which was positive for alcohol. Based on these results, the officer arrested Kim and read him the Implied Consent notice. Kim consented to a state-administered breath test. Kim’s alcohol concentration was .125 grams, well above the .08 legal limit.