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As Bonilla exited the vehicle, Officer Enriquez observed that she was unsteady on her feet. (RT 130.) Bonilla opened the trunk and began to look through paperwork and different
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items in the vehicle.
(RT 131.)
Officer Enriquez stood to Bonilla’s left and illuminated
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Bonilla’s trunk with his flashlight. (RT 131.) Bonilla was not able to locate her driver’s license
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or registration in the back of the vehicle. (RT 132.)
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Since Officer Enriquez smelled the odor of alcohol, he signaled to his partner that they
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may have an impaired driver and to call for an additional unit. Officer Enriquez was on an 9 10 11
overtime unit, and therefore, they needed a “regular beat unit” to handle the investigation. 3 (RT 132.)
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Officers Ramirez 4 and Bernardino responded to the scene. (RT 141.) Officer Enriquez
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advised them the reason for the stop, explained everything that had happened up to that point,
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and turned the investigation to Officer Ramirez. (RT 141.) 15
Officer Ramirez made contact with Bonilla, and smelled alcohol emitting from her
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person. (RT 258.) He also noticed that she was a little unsteady on her feet, and her speech was
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a little slow. (RT 258.) After Officer Ramirez made those observations, he asked Bonilla the
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pre-FST questions. 5 (RT 259.) Bonilla responded that she was coming from home, was going to
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her friend’s house, and had nothing to drink. (RT 260-261.) Bonilla also did not have any 21 22
physical impairment, and was not under the care of a doctor. (RT 264.)
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Officer Enriquez further testified that while they waited for the additional unit, Bonilla had walked to the passenger side of her vehicle, opened the door and retrieved a cell phone. As Bonilla fumbled with her phone, he told her to stop and attempted to take the phone from her. (RT 132-133.) Officer Enriquez was able to obtain the phone from Bonilla and placed it back in the car. Bonilla looked visibly upset. (RT 135-137.) 4 Officer Jose Ramirez. 5 According to Officer Ramirez, the pre-FST questions are a battery of 22 questions that they ask to see how the subject answers. It assists them in determining where the subject was coming from, where they were going to, if they had anything to drink, things of that nature. (RT 260.)
APPELLANT’S OPENING BRIEF – ALONI BONILLA - 5