Tibbs v. The State., 207 Ga. App. 273, 427 S.E.2d 603 (1993)
Linked as:
Summary
Judgment affirmed. Pope, C. J., and Carley, P. J., concur.
Summary
Judgment affirmed. Pope, C. J., and Carley, P. J., concur.
Text
William O. Cox, for appellant.
Peggy Tibbs appeals from her convictions of driving under the influence of alcohol, driving without a license on her person and improper use of a lane.
1. Tibbs contends that the court erred in denying her motion to suppress a statement she made at a traffic stop without having been advised of her rights under Miranda v. Arizona, 384 U. S. 436 (86 SC 1602, 16 LE2d 694) (1966). "Only in-custody statements by the accused give rise to the issues of voluntariness and the Miranda warnings. The test for determining whether a person is in custody at a traffic stop is if a reasonable person in the suspect's position would have thought the detention would not be temporary. Police officers at the scene of a traffic stop may conduct a general on-the-scene investigation, which may even require that persons be temporarily detained, without such being classified as custodial interrogation." (Punctuation omitted.) Carroll v. State,
2. Tibbs avers that the court erred in allowing the officer to testify that she failed an "alco-sensor" test administered at the scene of the traffic stop. The officer, however, did not testify as to the amount of alcohol in Tibbs' blood as shown by the alco-sensor test and the State did not attempt to use the officer's testimony concerning this test to establish Tibbs' degree of intoxication. The trial court therefore did not err by allowing such testimony, and the field test was not governed by the limitations set forth in OCGA
3. Tibbs claims that the court erred in admitting evidence of her intoximeter test results, showing that her blood-alcohol level was .16 grams percent, because the State failed to present competent evidence that the officer who administered the test was certified to operate the intoximeter machine. The officer testified that he used intoximeter machine IR3000 to administer the test and that he was certified by the Georgia Bureau of Investigation (GBI) to operate such a machine. The State introduced into evidence a copy of his certification from the GBI. Tibbs claims that this copy was barred by the best evidence rule and that the State should have been required to introduce the original document of certification. The officer's testimony and the copy of his certification were admissible and sufficient to establish that he had been issued a permit to operate the machine. Williamson v. State,
4. Tibbs argues that the court, by questioning the officer, improperly expressed its opinion as to the reliability, and unduly emphasized the results of the intoximeter test taken by Tibbs. No such objection was made at trial and therefore this issue may not be raised for the first time on appeal. Williams v. State,
5. Tibbs enumerates that it was improper for the jury to disregard her explanation that she was driving because of an emergency. To the extent that this enumeration can be considered a challenge to the sufficiency of the evidence, it is without merit. The jury was not required to accept Tibbs' explanation and, having reviewed the evidence in the light most favorable to the jury's verdict, we find that a rational trier of fact could have found Tibbs guilty of the charges beyond a reasonable doubt. Jackson v. Virginia, 443 U. S. 307 (99 SC 2781, 61 LE2d 560) (1979). See generally Cape v. State,
In support of this enumeration, Tibbs also claims that the court erred in giving the State's fifth requested jury charge that driving under the influence of alcohol is prohibited regardless of the distance actually driven. "[S]uch claim may not be considered because enumerations may not be enlarged by brief on appeal to cover issues not contained in the original enumeration." (Citations and punctuation omitted.) Loyd v. State,
Spencer Lawton, Jr., District Attorney, James J. Cairns III, Assistant District Attorney, for appellee.
Sponsored links
