Dechant v. State

Thomas Dechant appeals from his convictions for driving under the influence of alcohol to the extent it was less safe for him to drive and for failure to maintain lane. He enumerates several errors including challenges to the sufficiency of the evidence. Having reviewed these contentions, we find no error and affirm. Viewed in the light most favorable to the verdict, the evidence showed that an officer on late-night routine patrol discovered a green Ford sedan nose-first in a ditch and a gold Cadillac on the shoulder of the roadway. The officer spoke with a couple on the scene and determined that they had been driving the Cadillac parked on the shoulder. The officer asked the couple if they had been involved in the accident. The couple responded that they were not involved in the accident and, having arrived on the scene shortly before the officer, did not witness how the Ford ended up in the ditch. The couple remained on the scene while the officer conducted his investigation.

The only other person on the scene was Dechant. The officer asked Dechant if a deer had run in front of his vehicle. Dechant responded “yes,” and asked the officer to help him. As the officer filled out a traffic accident form, he detected a strong odor of alcohol on Dechant’s person. The officer also noticed that Dechant’s speech was slurred, he had droopy, bloodshot eyes, he swayed from side to side as he stood, and his clothing was disheveled. Dechant was walking with a soft cast on his foot and leg. The officer had Dechant perform two non-standard field sobriety tests, but Dechant was unable to successfully complete either task —he could not say his ABCs or count backwards from 99 to 78. Dechant refused to take an alco-sensor test. The officer testified that he arrested Dechant because in his opinion, Dechant was under the influence of alcohol to the extent that it was less safe for him to drive. The officer then read Dechant the implied consent warning. As the officer was read the warning, Dechant complained that the couple on the scene in the Cadillac had run him off of the road.