State v. Wells

Defendant appeals his conviction for driving under the influence of intoxicants. He assigns error to the trial court’s denial of his motion to suppress certain statements made to the investigating officer before being formally arrested and to the court’s refusal to suppress the officer’s description of defendant’s performance of certain field sobriety tests, which performance defendant labels “verbal acts.” We reverse and remand for a new trial.

On February 15, 1981, at approximately 4:55 a.m., a police officer passed by defendant’s car at an intersection and noticed that it was not in a…