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State v. Reece2/17/1999
The appellant, Timothy Wayne Reece, pled guilty in the Carter County Criminal Court to first offense driving under the influence on October 8, 1997. The trial court imposed a sentence of eleven months and twenty-nine days, suspended except for eighty-six days in jail and subject to work release after serving forty-eight hours. The appellant now appeals the sentencing decision of the trial court.
After review, we affirm the decision of the trial court.
Background
Facts developed at the preliminary hearing held on April 4, 1997, revealed that, on December 31, 1996, the appellant attended a New Year's Eve celebration with some friends. Alcohol was served at the party and the appellant drank three or four beers. At approximately 11:30 p.m., the appellant, accompanied by Andy DeLoach and Tabitha Turner, drove his 1983 Dodge Ramcharger to a Raceway convenience store to purchase gasoline. Carol Tolley, the cashier at the station, noticed that the appellant did not appear to be acting "normal." Specifically, she observed that the appellant had attempted to pay for the same gasoline purchase twice, that he had let the gasoline overflow from his tank, and, finally, he drove away from the pump with the gas nozzle still attached to his tank. Eventually, the appellant and his two companions returned to the party.
The party started breaking up around 12:30 a.m. and the appellant left to take Tabitha Turner home. Aware of the appellant's condition, others at the party, including Andy DeLoach, advised the appellant not to drive. Ignoring these warnings, the appellant chose to drive Tabitha home and proceeded north on Highway 91. Sometime after 1:00 a.m., the appellant's vehicle collided with the vehicle driven by thirty-five year old Carey Calhoun. The appellant later registered a .16 blood alcohol content. Carey Calhoun, who had just gotten off work prior to the accident, tested negative for the presence of alcohol. She later died at the hospital as a result of injuries sustained in the accident. Subsequently, the appellant was charged with vehicular homicide. This charge was later dismissed at the preliminary hearing in General Sessions Court and, in May 1997, the Grand Jury indicted the appellant on one count of driving under the influence .
Officer Rusty Verran, a certified accident reconstructionist with the Elizabethton Police Department, examined the accident scene. In his opinion, the appellant was traveling northbound with his headlights on at approximately 39.77 miles per hour in a fifty mile an hour speed zone. The accident occurred in the appellant's lane of traffic when the vehicle operated by Carey Calhoun pulled out into the roadway in front of the appellant. Specifically, Verran could not determine whether Ms. Calhoun had stopped at the stop sign, but he could conclude that the "approximate cause of this collision . . . was her action in failing to yield right of way to th [appellant's] oncoming vehicle." Because he was unable to determine the speed of Ms. Calhoun's vehicle, Officer Verran could not state whether the appellant's alcohol consumption played a part in the accident, i.e., whether the appellant's intoxication impacted his reaction time thus preventing him from avoiding the collision.
On October 8, 1997, the appellant entered a guilty plea to first offense DUI. A sentencing hearing was conducted that same day. The proof at the sentencing hearing revealed that, at the time of the accident, the appellant was a twenty-one year old high school graduate with no prior criminal record. He is employed at J.W. Windows Components as the supervisor on the second shift. In addition to this employment, the appellant is a Lance Corpo
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