People v. Garcia CA6

I. Factual and Procedural Background

On January 1, 2012, at about 9:45 p.m., a police officer pulled defendant’s vehicle over because one of his brake lights was “inoperative.” The officer had not seen any driving by defendant that indicated he was impaired. When the officer approached defendant, he saw that defendant “was a bit agitated.” He had bloodshot eyes, slurred speech, and a strong odor of alcohol on his breath. Defendant told the officer that he had consumed two beers. When defendant got out of the vehicle, the officer saw that defendant had “an unsteady, uncoordinated gait.” Defendant did poorly on field sobriety tests. He consented to a preliminary alcohol screening (PAS) test, and it showed that his blood-alcohol level was 0.079. The officer arrested defendant and transported him to the police department’s “DUI trailer” for a further test of his blood-alcohol level. On the way there, the officer noticed that defendant “nodded off.” When they reached the trailer, the officer observed that defendant “had excited speech, fluttering eyelids, nonreactive pupils, [and] dry lips . . . .” Defendant continued to be “very hyper, agitated” and seemed unable to sit still, and…