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[T] Dane County v. Bovee9/18/2003
. Robert Bovee appeals the judgment of conviction for inattentive driving in violation of Wis. Stat. § 346.89(1) entered after a trial to the court. The charges arose out of a one-car accident involving Bovee's vehicle. He contends: (1) the trial court erred in allowing a police officer to testify on certain points relating to the accident because he was not an accident reconstruction expert; (2) the trial court erred in admitting and relying on a police officer's testimony concerning statements he, Bovee, made to the officer when he was injured; and (3) there was insufficient evidence to support the trial court's determination that Bovee was guilty of inattentive driving. We conclude the trial court did not err in its evidentiary rulings and the evidence was sufficient to support the determination of guilty. Accordingly, we affirm.
. The accident occurred on December 28, 2002, at approximately 1:30 p.m. on Highway 18/151 just east of the County Highway J/G overpass. Jeffrey Heil, a deputy sheriff with the Dane County Sheriff's Department, arrived at the scene of the accident shortly after it occurred and testified as follows at the trial to the court. He observed tire tracks of the vehicle which indicated that the vehicle had come from the eastbound lane, across the median through the westbound lane and come to rest against a rock wall on the westbound side of the highway. The tracks went to the left through the median at a gradual angle, not perpendicular to the travel lanes. He observed no indication the vehicle hit any objects until it hit the wall on the westbound side of the highway; there were no other damaged vehicles in the area; and he observed no skid marks for Bovee's vehicle. He spoke to Bovee, who had been injured in the accident and was being taken to the hospital in an ambulance. Bovee said that he had been feeling sleepy prior to the accident and he thought he must have fallen asleep. He said he had been feeling sick, suffering from a cold, and had been sleepy and tired prior to the accident occurring. Bovee told the officer he had no recollection of going across the median or of the crash.
. Bovee testified as follows at the trial. He had been driving for an hour and one-half to two hours before the accident, coming from his aunt's house. It was daylight, it was a highway that he was familiar with, his vision was not obstructed, he was not on medication, and he had consumed no alcohol. The last thing he remembered was driving in the right lane eastbound at a normal speed; the speed limit in that area was sixty-five miles per hour. He did not remember going across the eastbound lane, the median, or the westbound lanes, or how he ended up there, and he did not know how the accident occurred. When asked whether he recalled telling the officer anything about being tired, he answered, "I don't remember, but who knows?" He did not recall telling the officer that he thought he might have fallen asleep. He was in the ambulance, a lot was going on, and he was in pain. At trial, he did not recall feeling tired on that trip. He did remember talking to the officer and that the officer asked him a bunch of questions, but he could not recall at trial what the questions were. He knew that he had had a cold, but he was getting over it at the time of the accident, and he was not overly tired. When asked whether he had any hypothesis to offer on how the accident could have happened other than falling asleep, he answered, "I don't remember anything about it."
. After hearing the evidence and argument, the trial court determined that Bovee was guilty of inattentive driving.
DISCUSSION
. Wisconsin Stat. § 346.89(1) provides that "no person while drivi
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