DWI/DUI Enhancement Based on Revocation

Affirming defendant’s felony DWI conviction based upon Lothenbach stipulation, the Court finds that the State need not prove all the underlying circumstances relating to a prior revocation , just the existance of the revocation itself. The Court rejects the defendant’s argument of insufficient notice of the prior revocation where the officer simply placed the notice with the defendant’s possessions rather than hand them to him personally.  State  v.  Omwega, A08-1738  (Ct. App. 07/21/09)

DWI/DUI  Refusal – Deficient Test

The Court finds sufficient reason to continue  defendant’s conviction of test refusal. The defendant took “short, quick puffs” rather than “long, hard breath” as instructed, in spite of the fact that the defendant told the officer he had asthma. The officer did not observe any breathing difficulty.  State  v.  Therrien, A08-0219 (Ct. App. Unpubl. 07/28/09)