Maynard, Justice, concurring: I completely concur in this
case. After viewing the videotape of Ms. Choma wherein she was advised of
her rights and administered an intoxilyzer test, it is readily apparent to
me that she should never have been charged or arrested in the first place.
The intoxilyzer results show a blood alcohol of .305, but, oddly, the videotape
clearly and plainly shows a woman in full possession of her faculties; although
she is upset, crying and visibly distraught, she certainly appears sober.
Her speech is not slurred, her responses to questions and her general conversation
are reasoned and appropriate, she is well oriented to time and place, and
her physical movements evidence a complete absence of any impairment. She
is seen several times rising from a chair, walking away into another room
to use the telephone or rest room, walking back and sitting down again. She
never staggers, stumbles, hesitates, or falls. All of her movements are quick,
positive, and steady. When she repeatedly raises her arm to drink water, she
does not tremble and her arm and hand are steady as a rock. A person with
a .305 blood alcohol level would have been in a stupor, or at least would
have been staggering and unsteady. The videotape in this case
proves the cliché that one picture is worth a thousand words. However, I am compelled to add a few more to the thousands of words
already wasted in this case. Ms. Choma was unfairly subjected to an ordeal
that was simply dreadful. She was arrested and subjected to a trial, and after
her acquittal, the system threw salt in the wound by further imposing penalties
in an administrative proceeding. I hope Syllabus Point 3 of the majority opinion
will help solve a problem which exists in West Virginia today wherein citizens
are subjected to additional punishment even after they have been found innocent
of crimes for which they were wrongfully charged. For the foregoing reasons,
I concur with the majority in this case.