People v. Nault

Filed 12/20/21 CERTIFIED FOR PUBLICATION

IN THE COURT OF APPEAL OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA

SECOND APPELLATE DISTRICT

DIVISION EIGHT

THE PEOPLE, B306460

Plaintiff and Respondent, Los Angeles County Super. Ct. No. PA089854 v.

ALBERIC ROLAND NAULT,

Defendant and Appellant.

APPEAL from a judgment of the Superior Court of Los Angeles County, Hayden A. Zacky, Judge. Affirmed as modified. Richard B. Lennon and Jennifer Peabody, under appointments by the Court of Appeal, for Defendant and Appellant. Rob Bonta, Attorney General, Lance E. Winters, Chief Assistant Attorney General, Susan Sullivan Pithey, Assistant Attorney General, Scott A. Taryle and David A. Voet, Deputy Attorneys General, for Plaintiff and Respondent. ____________________ After four convictions for drunk driving, Alberic Roland Nault got drunk and tried to pass an 18-wheeler on a narrow

road. His pickup hit an oncoming car and killed its driver. While Nault was unconscious from the crash, police took a warrantless sample of his blood. Nault argues this violated the Fourth Amendment. We affirm but direct the trial court to stay a second sentence under Penal Code section 654. Nault has a history of driving under the influence. At his 2020 trial, he stipulated to four of these convictions between 2000 and 2009. As a condition of probation, in 2001 he took a morgue program designed to snap him into focus. He also completed two other court-ordered alcohol awareness programs: one in 2006 and another in 2013. These sessions described the potential consequences of drunk driving, including killing people and murder charges. On August 11, 2017, a park ranger found Nault digging his pickup out of beach sand. Nault was stumbling about and he sounded and smelled drunk. He refused field sobriety tests and a blood test. He told the ranger to arrest him: “I’m going to fail those tests. I’m going to get a DUI.” He said his blood alcohol content was over 0.08 percent because he drank a Four Loko. The ranger arrested Nault and impounded his truck. Authorities suspended Nault’s license. On October 27, 2017, Nault used deception to get his truck out of impound. The tow yard would not release it to him while his license was suspended, so Nault paid a stranger $100 to show the tow yard a valid license that did not belong to Nault. Once the stranger got the truck released, Nault drove it away. That same day at 7:00 p.m., Laurentino Doval Carlos was driving his 18-wheeler on a two-lane road with a 55 mile-per-hour speed limit. Doval was behind another 18-wheeler. Both were traveling about 50 miles per hour. It was dark.