State of Maine v. Jacob A. Hinkel, 159 A.3d 854

Early morning traffic stop for speeding and headlights off; officer smelled intoxicants and observed red/glossy eyes and slow speech from driver Jacob Hinkel.
Officer conducted HGN and other field sobriety tests; both officers observed all six HGN clues of impairment and arrested Hinkel for OUI.
At the jail, Intoxilyzer breath tests failed (four invalid attempts); officers presented an implied-consent form for a blood test and after repeated questioning by Hinkel the officer deemed Hinkel to have refused the chemical test.
Hinkel was charged with OUI with refusal to submit to a chemical test (Class D) and operating after suspension (OAS) (Class E); parties agreed jury would decide OUI, court would decide OAS while jury deliberated.
Over Hinkel’s objections, both officers testified regarding HGN results; jury convicted on OUI with refusal, and the court convicted on OAS; sentence imposed and appeal followed.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Admissibility of HGN testimony	Officers were qualified and HGN reliable	Second officer lacked training and tests didn’t follow NHTSA protocol	Court properly found foundation satisfied; admission not erroneous; deviations don’t automatically render test inadmissible (Taylor/Fay framework)
Court’s consideration of trial testimony when deciding OAS	Evidence from OUI trial could be used by court	Consideration was plain error because jury heard that evidence	No plain error; parties agreed court would decide OAS and no severance prejudice shown; consideration permissible
Sufficiency of evidence for OUI with refusal	State presented HGN, officer observations, failed breath tests, and refusal conduct	Evidence insufficient to prove elements beyond reasonable doubt	Evidence sufficient when viewed in State’s favor; conviction affirmed

State v. Brockelbank, 33 A.3d 925 (Me. 2011) (standard for viewing evidence in light most favorable to the State)
State v. Taylor, 694 A.2d 907 (Me. 1997) (judicial notice of HGN reliability; foundation requires officer training and proper administration)
State v. Fay, 130 A.3d 364 (Me. 2015) (failure to strictly follow NHTSA protocol does not automatically bar field sobriety test evidence)
State v. Atkins, 129 A.3d 952 (Me. 2015) (trial court gatekeeping function for expert/technical evidence)
State v. Pabon, 28 A.3d 1147 (Me. 2011) (plain-error review elements for unpreserved claims)
State v. Lemay, 46 A.3d 1113 (Me. 2012) (severance and prejudice analysis)
State v. Cheney, 55 A.3d 473 (Me. 2012) (sufficiency review for OUI convictions)
State v. Just, 926 A.2d 1173 (Me. 2007) (sufficiency principles in OUI context)
Birchfield v. North Dakota, 136 S. Ct. 2160 (U.S. 2016) (noted re: constitutional challenge to blood-draw refusal not raised)