State v. Allen

A Baker County grand jury returned a true bill of indictment against Lemonte Montez Allen for the offenses of vehicular homicide, OCGA § 40-6-393, driving under the influence of alcohol, OCGA § 40-6-391, and failure to maintain his vehicle within its lane, OCGA § 40-6-48. Allen moved to suppress the results of his blood alcohol test, contending the State failed to read him the implied consent notice required by OCGA § 40-5-67.1 prior to the test. After a pretrial hearing on this issue, the trial court took the matter under advisement and later granted Allen’s motion; however, the court did not base its decision on the implied consent ground argued. Instead, the court suppressed the test results based upon a finding that “no evidence was introduced from which the court can find that the blood sample was taken within three hours after the defendant was operating a motor vehicle,” citing OCGA § 40-6-391 a 5. Pursuant to OCGA § 5-7-1 4, the State appeals. Because the trial court’s ruling is based upon an erroneous interpretation of the law, we reverse.

In reviewing a motion to suppress,1 we construe the evidence most favorably to uphold the findings and judgment of the trial court. Where the evidence is uncontroverted and there is no question concerning the credibility of witnesses, we conduct a de novo review of the trial court’s application of the law to the undisputed facts. State v. Stearns, 240 Ga. App. 806, 807 524 SE2d 554 1999. The State adduced the following relevant, undisputed facts: A state trooper testified that he met Allen at the hospital emergency room at the request of a trooper who remained at the accident scene. The trooper testified that he read Allen the appropriate implied consent notice from a card he carried. The trooper testified that Allen was conscious and communicative, appeared to understand him, and consented to the blood test. The trooper testified that he was not present at the scene of the accident and that he did not know when the accident occurred. The State presented evidence that Allen’s blood was drawn for testing at 1:39 p.m. on June 15, 2001.