Opinion

State v. Wong

  • 125 N.H. 610
  • 486 A.2d 262
  • 1984 N.H. LEXIS 413
Court
Supreme Court of New Hampshire
Filed
Oct 26, 1984
Status
Published
Author
King
On the bench
Batchelder, Douglas, Grindle, King
Cited by
33 cases
Authority
More cited than 5.3%

explaining that, under RSA 630:3, I, II, the culpability requirement of negligent homicide may be satisfied either by showing that a person caused the death of another negligently or by establishing that the person caused the death in the course of driving while under the influence

How later courts described this case

  • explaining that, under RSA 630:3, I, II, the culpability requirement of negligent homicide may be satisfied either by showing that a person caused the death of another negligently or by establishing that the person caused the death in the course of driving while under the influence
  • holding drunken driving in violation of statute is not merely malum prohibitum, but is malum in se
  • rejecting overbreadth argument where, “[i]n prohibiting a person from causing death as a consequence of driving an automobile while under the influence of intoxicating liquor, [the statute] does not infringe a protected freedom”
  • rejecting overbreadth argument where, “[i]n prohibiting a person from causing *436 death as a consequence of driving an automobile while under the influence of intoxicating liquor, [the statute] does not infringe a protected freedom”

Written by the judges who cited it.

The opinion

King, C.J.,

with whom Batchelder, J., joins, dissenting in Grindle: While I agree with the majority’s analysis of section II of the negligent homicide statute, RSA 630:3, II, and the disposition of Grindle’s sufficiency claim, I am unable to join in the court’s reaffirmation of State v. Cornelius, 122 N.H. 925 , 452 A.2d 464 (1982), in part III, A of the opinion. For the reasons set forth in Justice Batchelder’s dissent in State v. Cornelius, supra, at 929-31 , 452 A.2d at 467-68 , in which I concurred, I continue to believe that when a breath test is administered at the direction of a law enforcement officer, the defendant has a due process right under part I, article 15 of the New Hampshire Constitution to have a second sample preserved for independent analysis. Accordingly, the results of a breathalyzer test should be inadmissible unless the State preserves a second breath sample or its functional equivalent for independent testing by the defendant. I would therefore vacate the judgment of the superior court in Grindle and remand for further proceedings.

This is a copy of a public record, reproduced as it was published. It is not legal advice, and it may not be the version a court would rely on. Check the official source before you cite it.

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