City of Jamestown v. Nygaard
Annotate this CaseBonnie Lynn Nygaard appealed after her conditional plea to refusing to take a chemical breath test was accepted. In the early morning of March 8, 2020, Stutsman County Sheriff Deputy Brian Davis conducted a traffic stop of a vehicle driven by Nygaard. Davis asked for Nygaard’s license, proof of insurance and vehicle registration. After receiving the documents, Davis asked Nygaard if she had been drinking. Nygaard said she had two drinks an hour prior to the traffic stop. Nygaard would be taken to the Stutsman County Correctional Center. Nygaard was given an implied consent advisory and requested a chemical breath test. Nygaard consented to taking the test. During the first breath sample, Nygaard obstructed the air flow and provided an insufficient sample. Nygaard was told she could take the test a second time but if a sufficient sample was not provided, a citation would issue for DUI-Refusal. Nygaard agreed to take the second test and again provided an insufficient sample. The City of Jamestown charged Nygaard with DUI-Refusal. Nygaard argued on appeal that the plain meaning of N.D.C.C. 39-08-01(1)(f) required advice of criminal penalties to drivers before they could be charged with refusing a chemical breath test. The North Dakota Supreme Court found the plain language of N.D.C.C. 39-08-01(1)(f) did not require advice of criminal penalties to drivers before they can be charged with refusing a chemical breath test. The criminal judgment was thus affirmed.
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