The defendant, Robert L. Ifill, appeals his conviction of operating a motor vehicle while under the influence of intoxicating liquor (“OUI”), 29 M.R.S.A. § 1312-B (Supp.1989), after a jury trial in Superior Court (Somerset County, Alexander, J). Ifill contends that the Superior Court abused its discretion by admitting into evidence (1) that the State Trooper administered a roadside breath test using an Alcohol Level Evaluation Roadside Tester (“A.L.E.R.T.”) 1 prior to arresting Ifill; and (2) an unredacted implied consent form. We affirm the judgment.
This is Kill's second appeal. In Slate
v. Ifill,
Ifill contends that because of the unreliability of the A.L.E.R.T. test, the court abused its discretion in admitting any reference to it into evidence. We disagree. In
Ifill I,
we determined that because of its unreliability, the
result
of the A.L.E.R.T. test should be excluded from evidence in an OUI case.
Ifill I,
Kill also contends that the court abused its discretion in admitting into evidence an unredacted implied consent form on which Kill had written, “I am refusing [to submit to a blood-alcohol test] because I’m still on Federal Parol [sic].” He contends that the probative value of his refusal to submit to the test is minimal and is far outweighed by the unfair prejudice resulting from the jury’s knowledge of his being a federal parolee.
M.R.Evid. 403 gives the trial court wide discretion to balance the considerations of the probative value of proffered evidence against the danger of unfair prejudice, and such an evidentiary ruling will be overturned only when the trial court commits a clear abuse of discretion.
See State v. Kotsimpulos,
Although another trial judge might have concluded that the danger of unfair prejudice was greater than the probative value of Kill’s written reason for refusing to be tested,
3
and excluded the implied consent form or admitted it into evidence with Kill’s words referring to his federal parole redacted, that is insufficient reason to overturn the decision of a trial judge.
State v. Mylon,
The entry is:
Judgment affirmed.
All concurring.
Notes
. 29 M.R.S.A. § 1312 provides that a motor vehicle operator must submit to a blood-alcohol test, either a blood or breath test, if there is probable cause to believe that he has operated a motor vehicle under the influence of intoxicating liquor, and that the result of such a test is admissible in evidence against the operator. Any such breath test must be performed with equipment approved by the Department of Human Services. See 29 M.R.S.A. § 1312(6). The A.L.E.R.T. test is administered with a self-contained apparatus that is not approved by the Department of Human Services.
. The trooper himself observed no erratic driving on the part of Ifill although he had been informed that Kill's van had been driven erratically. He did detect an odor of alcohol from Ifill, and noticed that Ifill had bloodshot and glassy eyes and slurred speech. Ifill also had difficulty reciting the alphabet.
. 29 M.R.S.A. § 1312(8) provides that the failure of a person to submit to a blood-alcohol test is admissible in evidence on the issue of whether that person was under the influence. The court did not instruct the jury to that effect and no such instruction was requested.
