Cunningham v. State
Cunningham v. State
Opinion of the Court
David Michael Cunningham appeals his conviction for felony DUI. § 316.193(2)(b), Fla. Stat. (1997). We affirm.
One of the points raised by the appellant does merit discussion. The trial court instructed the jury that they could convict appellant if they found either that Cunningham’s normal faculties were impaired by alcohol or if he had a blood alcohol level (BAL) of .08 percent or higher. Subsequent to his stop for suspicion of a DUI offense, Cunningham refused to take a “Breathalyzer test,” thereby preventing testing of his BAL. At trial, the defense argued that it did not make sense to have the jury consider whether the appellant violated the DUI statute by having an unlawful BAL. Ultimately, however, the defense conceded that the state was entitled to an instruction on BAL. Otherwise, the evidence presented by the state, that the appellant refused to take the BAL test, would lose its contextual meaning.
We conclude that under the circumstances of the case, the trial court reasonably determined that the jury had to
AFFIRMED.
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.