Ronald Keith Harris was found guilty by a jury and convicted of speeding and driving an automobile while his alcohol concentration
1. Harris argues on appeal that the results of the various field sobriety tests given to him by the arresting officer at the scene should have been suppressed because he was in custody at the time, and the officer failed to inform him of his federal and state constitutional rights prior to administering the tests. In his motion to suppress, denied by the trial court, Harris contended that he was illegally stopped without probable cause, and that the State intended to “introduce evidence concerning Defendant’s demeanor, results of a breath test, [and] statements of the Defendant made while in custody without the benefit of advice of his federal constitutional rights. . . .” The motion to suppress filed in the trial court did not raise the issue of suppression of the field sobriety tests, the record does not show that this issue was raised in arguments or briefs on the suppression motion in the trial court, and the trial court did not rule on this issue in its order denying Harris’ motion to suppress. Accordingly, the enumeration presents nothing for appellate review.
Smith v. State,
2. There is no merit in Harris’ claim that the trial court erred by admitting evidence of a prior DUI offense as a similar transaction. The hearing conducted by the trial court was sufficient. “While defendant has a right to a hearing on the similarity of other transactions sought to be introduced into evidence, it need not be a full evidentiary hearing and it is sufficient if the prosecutor shows the requisite similarity of the previous transaction by stating in his place the nature of the evidence to be given regarding the similar transaction. [Cit.]”
Johnson v. State,
3. Even if the State failed to lay the necessary foundation for introduction of radar evidence of Harris’ speed, the arresting officer’s testimony that he observed Harris driving at an estimated speed of 90 mph was sufficient to support the speeding conviction.
Brown v. State,
4. In his fourth enumeration of error, Harris claims the State failed to lay a proper foundation for admissibility of the results of the test administered to him on the Intoximeter 3000 machine showing he had an alcohol concentration of .14 grams. Harris objected at trial that Officer Vaughn, who testified he administered the test and testified to the foundational facts supporting admission of the test results, could not remember giving the test to Harris. Officer Vaughn testified he had given hundreds of such tests on the machine, and that he could not remember what Harris looked like or identify him. However, after reviewing the printed test results from the machine, Vaughn was able to testify that he remembered giving the test to a subject named Ronald Keith Harris on November 3, 1991 at about 4:50 a.m. The arresting officer testified that Harris was arrested on the present charges, and brought in for the test administered by Officer Vaughn, on the same date and time. This was sufficient to show that the test was administered to Harris by Officer Vaughn, who otherwise testified to the foundational elements necessary for admission of the test results. See
Mullís v. State,
5. Harris contends the trial court erred by refusing to allow an expert in chemistry with experience in the field of alcohol and drug testing to testify about the possibility of error in the test results produced by the Intoximeter 3000 machine. See
Lattarulo v. State,
6. The trial court’s charge in this case regarding the State’s burden to prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt was substantially similar to the charge recommended by the Council of Superior Court Judges of Georgia in the Suggested Pattern Jury Instructions, including use of the phrase “moral and reasonable certainty” as part of the description of the burden. In a case decided after the present trial, the Supreme Court noted that the better charge on burden of proof “would not include the unnecessary phrase ‘moral and reasonable certainty.’ ”
Vance v. State,
7. There was no error in the trial court’s denial of Harris’ motion for a new trial.
Judgment affirmed.
