Johnson v. State

The trial court properly admitted the defendant's post-arrest statement that he made in the back of the officer's cruiser, since the statement was within the res gestae of the arrest and was admissible as an admission against interest.

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After a jury trial, William Holland Johnson, Jr., was found guilty of driving under the influence of alcohol such that he was less safe to do so “DUI-less safe”,1 and improper lane change.2 Johnson appeals, arguing that the trial court erred by 1 denying his motion to exclude evidence of the horizontal gaze nystagmus “HGN” test based on the standard stated in Sultan v. State3 ; 2 denying four of his jury charge requests; and 3 admitting evidence of his recorded post-arrest statements. For the reasons that follow, we affirm.4

Viewed in the light most favorable to the verdict,5 the record shows that on January 2, 2010, at approximately 11:40 p.m., an officer was patrolling an area of Forsyth County. The officer was traveling in the left-hand lane of a 4-lane road and was approximately 50 to 100 feet behind a gray sport utility vehicle “SUV”, which was traveling in a right-hand lane that would eventually become a right-turn-only lane. The officer was concerned that the SUV was traveling too quickly to negotiate the right-hand turn and therefore slowed his vehicle to avoid any accident or abrupt lane change; as the officer expected and without using the left-hand turn signal, the SUV moved into the left-hand lane in order to continue straight through the intersection. Immediately after the intersection, there was a gas station, and the road had a turn lane for entering the gas station parking lot, which was separated from the main lane of travel by a white-striped portion of pavement. The SUV then turned into the gas station from the left-hand lane, without signaling, without entering the right-hand turn lane, and instead driving over the white striped area of pavement.

Johnson v. State

The trial court properly admitted the defendant's post-arrest statement that he made in the back of the officer's cruiser, since the statement was within the res gestae of the arrest and was admissible as an admission against interest.

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