Judge Andrew Engel
Osorio was charged with driving while intoxicated, among other things. A hearing was held to determine issues of probable cause and suppression. An officer saw Osorio driving over the white line and drift into another lane without indicating a lane change. He stopped Osorio, and noticed his bloodshot eyes and an odor of alcohol on his breath. The Officer noted while Osorio spoke broken English, he had difficulty with the language. He also stated Osorio failed standardized field sobriety tests and a breath test resulted in a reading of .13 percent. The officer arrested Osorio and took him to the station, no Miranda warnings were read, but he was later handed a Miranda warning card in Spanish. The court found the officer’s stop was lawful, and there was probable cause to believe Osorio drove while intoxicated. Yet, it was not convinced prosecutors showed Osorio was properly advised of his Miranda rights, or made a knowing and intelligent waiver of them before his questioning. The court stated it was unclear if Osorio read the Miranda warnings given him, and no effort was made to read them to him in English or Spanish. Hence, it court did not find prosecutors met their burden if there was a valid waiver of Miranda rights, granting suppression of statements.
