City of Helena v. Kortum, 2003 MT 290

Summary

The Supreme Court of Montana affirmed George Peter Kortum's DUI conviction. The court held that the trial court properly denied a directed verdict because evidence beyond the field sobriety tests, including driving behavior, officer observations, alcohol consumption, and refusal to submit to breath testing, supported the conviction. The court also held that the trial court did not abuse its discretion by limiting defense counsel's use of a state pamphlet concerning blood alcohol content.

Holdings

1. The District Court did not abuse its discretion in denying the directed-verdict motion because, even assuming the field sobriety tests were flawed, the evidence viewed in the light most favorable to the City allowed a rational jury to find Kortum guilty of DUI beyond a reasonable doubt.
2. Kortum's argument that improperly administered field sobriety tests were incompetent and inadmissible was not preserved because he did not make that argument or object to the admission of the testimony in the District Court.
3. The District Court did not abuse its discretion by prohibiting further use of the BAC and You pamphlet after defense counsel attempted to use its statistics as substantive evidence that Kortum was not intoxicated or impaired.

Questions Presented

1. Whether the District Court abused its discretion by denying Kortum's motion for a directed verdict because the field sobriety tests were allegedly administered improperly and outside established police procedure.
2. Whether the District Court abused its discretion by prohibiting defense counsel from further using the BAC and You pamphlet during closing argument after limiting its admission to the fact that it was a Montana Department of Transportation publication.

Disposition

affirmed