State v. Armenta

Defendant is charged in the same indictment with driving under the influence of intoxicants and with assault II, both charges arising from an incident that resulted in the injury of another. The state appeals from a pretrial order suppressing evidence of the result of a blood alcohol test taken while defendant was in the hospital. We reverse in part.

Defendant was found in the driver’s seat of a vehicle that had crossed the center line and collided head-on with another vehicle, injuring its driver. The investigating officer smelled alcohol on defendant’s breath and observed that he walked…