State v. MartinezÂ, 244 N.C. App. 739

On March 10, 2013, officers stopped Martinez after he attempted to evade a checkpoint; officer smelled alcohol and observed stumbling.
Officer conducted field sobriety tests with a Spanish-speaking dispatcher on speakerphone translating because Martinez had limited English.
Two portable breath tests indicated alcohol; Martinez was arrested and taken to jail for chemical testing.
At the jail, Martinez was read implied-consent rights in English orally and given a written Spanish version; the dispatcher was again available by phone for questions. Martinez signed the Spanish form and submitted to breath testing showing a .13 BAC.
Martinez was indicted for DWI and habitual DWI; he stipulated to three prior DWI convictions pretrial. Jury found him guilty of DWI; judgment arrested on that count and habitual DWI conviction entered; sentence imposed. Martinez appealed the admission of the breath test results.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Whether breath test results are admissible where implied-consent rights were read orally in English but provided in writing in Spanish	State: Statute satisfied because officer gave oral and written notice as required; results admissible	Martinez: Statute requires oral notification in a language the defendant understands; oral English notice alone rendered results inadmissible	Court: Admissible. Section 20-16.2 requires oral and written notice but does not condition admissibility on the defendant's subjective understanding; written Spanish form and translator sufficed

Seders v. Powell, 298 N.C. 453 (discusses statute purpose: promote cooperation and safeguard against erroneous license deprivation)
State v. Carpenter, 34 N.C. App. 742 (operator not required to force defendant to read written notice; refusal to read cannot defeat test evidence)