State v. Davis

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The Supreme Court vacated Defendant’s conviction for operating or assuming actual physical control of a vehicle with .08 or more grams of alcohol per 210 liters of breath, holding that the district court erred in admitting two sworn statements by an Intoxilyzer supervisor to prove that the Intoxilyzer used to test Defendant’s breath alcohol content was in proper working order. The court held that the statements were improperly admitted under the public records exception because they contained an evaluative opinion that did not constitute a “matter observed” within the meaning of Haw. R. Evid. 803(b)(8). Therefore, the State failed to lay a sufficient foundation that the Intoxilyzer was in proper working order when the breath test was administered to Defendant. View "State v. Davis" on Justia Law