City of Eureka v. Clark, 122669

At ~9:00 p.m., Clark's pickup lost a propane tank which was struck by a parked semi; officer Sgt. Cordell responded and found Clark beside the road with his pickup nearby.
Cordell smelled a strong odor of alcohol on Clark, observed bloodshot/watery eyes and a flushed, sweaty face, and found multiple coolers and open/empty beer cans in the truck bed.
Clark admitted drinking four beers while golfing that day, including one immediately before leaving.
Cordell administered field sobriety tests: Clark failed the walk-and-turn (minor indicator) and passed the one-leg stand; Cordell also requested a preliminary breath test (PBT).
The district court excluded the PBT result because Clark was advised he could be charged if he refused; nevertheless, the court denied Clark’s suppression motion based on other indicia (admission, odor, bloodshot eyes, cans, FST failure) and found probable cause to arrest.
On stipulated facts Clark was convicted of DUI; the court of appeals affirmed, holding the district court’s factual findings supported by substantial competent evidence and that probable cause existed.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Probable cause to arrest for DUI	Cordell lacked probable cause to arrest Clark	Totality of circumstances (admission of 4 beers, odor, bloodshot eyes, open cans, failed FST) supported probable cause	Probable cause existed; suppression denial affirmed
Admissibility of PBT result	PBT was involuntary/coerced by improper advisory	Officer acted in good faith; hesitancy ≠ refusal	District court excluded PBT; appellate court did not consider PBT and affirmed without it
Significance of walk‑and‑turn failure	Clark did not fail / failure is insignificant	Officer observed an extra step and improper turn—valid clue (but minor)	Court accepted a failure occurred but treated it as a minor factor
Weight of Clark's admission of 4 beers	Four beers not necessarily "substantial" and court overstated its importance	Defendant's admission is a strong, probative indicator of intoxication	Court found Clark admitted to 4 beers; that admission supported probable cause (commentary calling it "substantial" was not a binding factual finding)

Birchfield v. North Dakota, 136 S. Ct. 2160 (2016) (warrantless breath tests are searches and may be permissible incident to arrest)
State v. Chavez-Majors, 454 P.3d 600 (2019) (probable cause analysis uses totality of circumstances and odor of alcohol is probative)
State v. Dupree, 371 P.3d 862 (2016) (preservation rule for suppression issues)
State v. Robinson, 410 P.3d 923 (2017) (statutory penalty for refusing PBT implicated constitutional concerns)
State v. Huff, 111 P.3d 659 (2005) (field sobriety tests are useful to establish probable cause)
State v. Edgar, 294 P.3d 251 (2013) (competing evidence of sobriety does not necessarily negate evidence supporting probable cause)