State v. Buckheit, 223 N.C. App. 269 (Nov. 6, 2012)

The trial court erred by denying the defendant’s motion to suppress intoxilyzer results. After arrest, the defendant was informed of his rights under G.S. 20-16.2(a) and elected to have a witness present. The defendant contacted his witness by phone and asked her to witness the intoxilyzer test. Shortly thereafter his witness arrived in the lobby of the County Public Safety Center; when she informed the front desk officer why she was there, she was told to wait in the lobby. The witness asked the front desk officer multiple times if she needed to do anything further. When the intoxilyzer test was administered, the witness was waiting in the lobby. Finding the case indistinguishable from State v. Hatley, 190 N.C. App. 639 (2008), the court held that after her timely arrival, the defendant’s witness made reasonable efforts to gain access to the defendant but was prevented from doing so and that therefore the intoxilyzer results should have been suppressed.