{
  "id": 1885472,
  "name": "Gary Leonard SMITH v. STATE of Arkansas",
  "name_abbreviation": "Smith v. State",
  "decision_date": "1990-03-19",
  "docket_number": "CR 89-172",
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      "cite": "785 S.W.2d 465"
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    "name": "Arkansas Supreme Court"
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  "last_updated": "2023-07-14T21:23:07.951222+00:00",
  "provenance": {
    "date_added": "2019-08-29",
    "source": "Harvard",
    "batch": "2018"
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  "casebody": {
    "judges": [
      "Dudley and Price, JJ., not participating."
    ],
    "parties": [
      "Gary Leonard SMITH v. STATE of Arkansas"
    ],
    "opinions": [
      {
        "text": "Claude W. Jenkins, Special Justice.\nThe appellant, Gary Smith, was convicted in the Pulaski County Circuit Court on the charge of driving while intoxicated, fourth offense. On appeal, he argues that (1) the trial court erred in denying his motion to suppress; (2) the trial court erred in allowing the introduction of the result of his breathalyzer test because the State failed to prove that the officer who gave the test was certified; and (3) the trial court erred in finding him guilty of driving while intoxicated, fourth offense, because the State failed to show that he was represented by counsel in an earlier proceeding in Louisiana wherein he was convicted of driving while intoxicated.\nThe evidence concerning Smith\u2019s initial arrest was that the arresting officer observed Smith driving in the center lane of I-430 \u201cquite slow.\u201d Several other vehicles were in the area. As the officer drove past Smith, she noticed that he had his bright lights on. She slowed down, and he slowed down \u201ceven slower.\u201d She then got behind Smith and turned on her blue lights.\nSmith argues, in essence, that his actions prior to the time the arresting officer turned on her blue lights did not give the officer reasonable suspicion to stop him. We disagree. In United States v. Cortez, 449 U.S. 411 (1981), the Supreme Court found that under certain circumstances, a police officer may rely on his experience and make \u201cinferences and deductions that might well elude an untrained person.\u201d Police officers are required to obtain special training before certification and are also trained through experience to observe the actions of individuals in order to ascertain suspicious activities so that they may protect the public from unlawful activities.\nThe arresting officer testified that Smith\u2019s slow driving in the center lane of 1-430, together with the bright lights when other traffic was present (for which Smith was issued a warning), and Smith\u2019s reactions to her slowing down caused her to stop him.\nWe find that Smith\u2019s actions at the location, time, and under the circumstances were sufficient to give the arresting officer a reasonable suspicion that a misdemeanor involving risk of forcible injury to persons or damage to property had been, or was about to be, committed, and therefore the officer was entitled to stop Smith, as the stop was reasonably necessary to determine the lawfulness of Smith\u2019s conduct. See A.R.Cr.P. Rule 3.1.\nSmith next contends that the trial court erred in allowing the introduction of the results of his breathalyzer test because the State failed, under the best evidence rule, to prove that the officer who gave the test was certified. We disagree.\nArkansas Code Ann. \u00a7 5-65-206(d)(l) (1987) does not require the machine operator\u2019s testimony, or his certificate, as a prerequisite to the introduction of chemical analysis test results. This court adopts the rationale of the Arkansas Court of Appeals in its holding in the case of Johnsons. State, 17 Ark. App. 82, 703 S.W.2d 475 (1986) that the provision only requires that the person who calibrates the machine, and the person who operates it, will be made available for cross-examination by the defense upon reasonable notice to the prosecutor.\nHowever, there is ample evidence in the record of this case to uphold the verdict of the lower court aside from the results of the breathalyzer test.\nSmith also alleges that the trial court erred in finding him guilty of driving while intoxicated, fourth offense. This contention is based upon his argument that the State failed to show that he was represented by counsel in connection with a previous conviction for driving while intoxicated in Louisiana.\nOn the contrary, we find that the record of the Louisiana conviction placed into evidence in this case showed that Smith had signed a document entitled \u201cWaiver of Constitutional Rights and Plea of Guilty,\u201d which stated in part that:\nThe judge has addressed me individually in open court of my right to trial, my privilege against self-incrimination, my right to be represented at all times in the proceeding, including appeal, by counsel of my choice or a court-appointed attorney at no cost to me if I lack finances to employ one. ... I understand my rights and that I desire to waive them by entering a plea of guilty.\nThe document that appears in the record of this case contains not only Smith\u2019s signature but also the signature of someone identified as his attorney at the place indicated on the document for his attorney to sign \u201cif represented.\u201d Although the document is mainly a written guilty plea containing a waiver of constitutional rights, it was signed by both Smith and his attorney at the proper place on the document showing that Smith was represented by an attorney.\nThis record is sufficient to sustain the lower court in finding the defendant guilty of driving while intoxicated, fourth offense.\nAffirmed.\nDudley and Price, JJ., not participating.",
        "type": "majority",
        "author": "Claude W. Jenkins, Special Justice."
      }
    ],
    "attorneys": [
      "Greene Law Offices, by; Bill Luppen; and Craig Lambert, for appellant.",
      "Steve Clark, Att\u2019y Gen., by: Ann Purvis, Asst. Att\u2019y Gen., for appellee."
    ],
    "corrections": "",
    "head_matter": "Gary Leonard SMITH v. STATE of Arkansas\nCR 89-172\n785 S.W.2d 465\nSupreme Court of Arkansas\nOpinion delivered March 19, 1990\nGreene Law Offices, by; Bill Luppen; and Craig Lambert, for appellant.\nSteve Clark, Att\u2019y Gen., by: Ann Purvis, Asst. Att\u2019y Gen., for appellee."
  },
  "file_name": "0569-01",
  "first_page_order": 603,
  "last_page_order": 606
}