State v. Bishop

The opinion of the court was delivered by

Abbott, J.:

This is a direct appeal by the defendant, Gary A. Bishop, from his convictions for driving under the influence of alcohol (K.S.A. 1997 Supp. 8-1567) and failure to maintain a single lane of traffic (K.S.A. 8-1522).

Bishop is a deaf mute who communicates through American Sign Language. At 11:36 p.m. on August 9, 1996, Trooper Steven Zeller observed Bishop’s car weave drastically within its lane of traffic and leave its lane of traffic at least once. Bishop was accompanied by two children.

After stopping Bishop, the trooper realized that Bishop…