Patrick v. State

Darrell Hickman, Justice.

The legal question in this case is whether the results of a portable breath test, or what is sometimes called a roadside sobriety test, which are not admissible to prove a person is guilty of driving while intoxicated, are admissible when they would indicate a person is not guilty. In this case the answer is yes because the evidence is exculpatory, was crucial to the defense, and sufficiently reliable to warrant admission.

Roderick Patrick, a resident of Louisiana and a student at Louisiana State University, was in Arkansas working on a family farm near Arkadelphia. It…