This аppeal involves the judicial review of the revocation of Nicholas R. Coble’s (“Driver”) driving privileges by the Director of Revenue (“the Director”) pursuant to section 577.041
The record reveals that on the evening of March 6, 2009, in Greene County, Missouri, Driver was involved in a one-vehicle automobile accident. He had been operating the motor vehicle at the time of the accident. Two City of Strafford police officers, Jay Munhollen (“Officer Munhol-len”) and Jeffrey Ford (“Officer Ford”), who had been called to the scene by the
Offiсer Munhollen testified he was dispatched around 8:15 p.m. to the scene of the accident and he arrived around 8:28 p.m.
In his testimony, Officer Ford acknowledged that he was “a commissioned officer for Greene County as well as for [the City of] Strafford.” He related he had been called to the scene of the accident, he made contact with Driver after Driver had been evaluated by the emergency medical personnel, and he observed that Driver’s “eyes were bloodshot and watery. His speech was slurred. He was swaying from side to side. His hands were shaking as if he was really nervous.” Driver indicated to him that he had been driving the vеhicle and “he was going too quickly, was new to the area, didn’t know the roads.” Officer Ford also related that Officer Munhollen then took charge of Driver to perform field sobriety tests on him while Officer Ford investigated the scene of the accident and interviewed several witnesses.
In addition to the testimony of both Officers Munhollen and Ford, the Director, over Driver’s objection, was permitted to introduce copies of the officers’ police reports which were received into evidence by the trial court as Exhibit A.
In her sole point relied on, the Director maintains the trial court erred in reinstating Driver’s driving privileges because such a determination “erronеously declared and applied the law, in that the [trial] court improperly considered the lawfulness of [Driver’s] arrest when determining whether the Director properly imposed the ... revocation of [Driver’s] license.”
In an appeal from a judgment reinstating driving privileges under section 577.041, we will affirm the trial court’s judgment unless it is unsupported by substantial evidence, it is against the weight of • the evidence, or it erroneously declares or applies the law. Wagner v. Dir. of Revenue,
Tn a proceeding in which a person’s driver’s license is revoked for refusing to submit to a chemical test, the trial court shall determine only whether: (1) the person was arrested; (2) the arresting officer had reasonable grounds tо believe that the person was driving while intoxicated; and (3) the person refused to submit to the test.’
Id. at 736 (quoting Fick v. Dir. of Revenue,
A hearing held in relation to the revocation of a driver’s driving privileges for refusal to take a chemical breath test is a civil proceeding. Id. at 850. It is well-established that the exclusionary rule does not apply to civil proceedings. Murphy v. Dir. of Revenue,
As previously recited, at the hearing the officers opined that Driver was intoxicated on the evening in question; thаt he was arrested based on reasonable grounds to believe he was driving in an intoxicated condition;
Driver’s оbjections at trial chiefly centered on the Director’s attempts to bring out evidence regarding the specifics of the accident, including what witnesses had observed and the time of the accident. Here, the trial court made no findings of facts or conclusions of law nor was it asked to.
Turning to his argument positing the illegality of his arrest because insuffiсient evidence of his time of arrest was shown at trial, Driver cited at trial to Reed v. Dir. of Revenue,
Recently in Ross,
Turning now to Driver’s second argument at trial, that his arrest was unlawful because the police officers had no authority to arrest him outside of the City of
Likewise, in Arch v. Dir. of Revenue,
Also, in Sullins v. Dir. of Revenue,
It has long been held that we may enter the judgment the trial court should have entered. Rule 84.14, Missouri Court Rules 2010; see Garriott,
Notes
. Unless otherwise stated, all statutory references are to RSMo Cum.Supp.2009.
. Driver did not file a responsive brief in this matter but made his position known in the trial court.
. When asked why a Strafford police officer would respond to an accident located in Greene County, Officer Munhollen explained that "[t]he sheriff's department, all the officers were on calls, and they requested us to go-”
. Driver ultimately refused medical assistance.
. Miranda v. Arizona,
.Among other things, the police report went into detail about the field sobriety tests conducted on Driver prior to his arrest, to-wit: the horizontal gaze nystagmus test, the leg stand test and the walk and turn test. Additionally, it replicated the observations made in Officer Munhollen's testimony that Driver's breath smelled of intoxicants as well as observations that Driver had "bloodshot” and "glassy eyes.” The police report also set out that Officer Munhollen had read Driver the “Implied Consent” law and that Driver had "refused the test."
. "The terms 'reasonable grounds’ and 'probable cause’ are basically synonymous terms.” Arch v. Dir. of Revenue,
. Section 577.039, RSMo 2000, states that [a]n arrest without a warrant by a law enforcement officer ... for a violation of section 577.010 or 577.012 is lawful whenever the arresting officer has reasonable grounds to believe that the person to be arrested has violated the section, whether or not the violation occurred in the presence of the arresting officer and when such arrest without warrant is made within one and one-half hours after such claimed violation occurred, unless the person to be arrested has left the scene of an accident or has been removed from the scene to receive medical treatment, in which case such arrest without warrant may be made more than one and one-half hours after such violation occurred.
