State v. Waters

Citations

• 214 Conn. App. 294

Syllabus

Convicted, after a jury trial, of the crime of operating a motor vehicle while under the influence of intoxicating liquor, and, under a part B information, on a plea of guilty, of being a second time offender pursuant to statute (§ 14-227a (g) (2)), the defendant appealed to this court. The defendant had attempted to make a U-turn when the car he was driving twice struck a car being driven by A. The defendant drove away from the accident scene and went home, where he claimed to have consumed a significant amount of alcohol and smoked a ''spliff.'' When the defendant reappeared at the scene on foot about twenty minutes later, A identified him as the driver of the other car. Police officers noticed that he was acting aggressively, slurring his speech and moving unsteadily. The defendant thereafter failed three sobriety tests the police administered to him and was taken to the police station where he was questioned after being advised of his rights pursuant to Miranda v. Arizona (384 U.S. 436). The defendant was charged under subdivision (1) of § 14- 227a (a), the behavioral subdivision, pursuant to which blood alcohol levels generally are excluded from evidence without a defendant's con- sent, in accordance with § 14-227a (c). The defendant testified on his own behalf, including testifying that he had not begun to consume alcohol until after he returned home after the incident with A. The state offered as rebuttal evidence the testimony of its expert witness, L, a forensic toxicologist. L testified in response to a set of hypothetical facts about the amount of time it typically takes for alcohol to have observable effects on an individual's motor functions and typical behav- ior associated with certain blood alcohol levels. The court overruled the defendant's objection to L's testimony. On appeal, the defendant claimed, inter alia, that L's testimony was tantamount to testimony about the defendant's blood alcohol content and, thus, violated the prohibition of such tes