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State v. Butler6/24/2003
OPINION
FACTUAL BACKGROUND
Shortly before midnight on March 18, 2000, Madison County Deputy Dan Owen was off duty and working as a security guard at a Wal-Mart Supercenter in Jackson, Tennessee when a customer informed him that a man "was wandering around the parking lot appeared to be intoxicated." Deputy Owen confronted the defendant, Rodney M. Butler, in the parking lot approximately fifty feet from the entrance to the store and approximately one hundred yards from the defendant's motorcycle. The defendant, who was carrying a sparkplug and a sparkplug wrench, explained to Deputy Owen that he had driven to the store to get a part for his motorcycle. Deputy Owen testified that the defendant appeared to be intoxicated. He also noticed that the defendant had a bottle protruding from his jacket pocket.
Deputy Owen escorted the defendant into the Wal-Mart and conducted four field sobriety tests. After witnessing the defendant perform poorly on three of the tests, Deputy Owen placed the defendant under arrest and discovered that the half-empty bottle contained tequila. Deputies Ashley Johnson and Tommy Ferguson were summoned to transport Butler to the police station in order to conduct a breathalyzer test. Deputy Owens testified that after the defendant was transported to the police station, he recovered the defendant's helmet from the store's automotive department. He also stated that he never actually witnessed the defendant on the motorcycle.
Upon arriving at the police station, the defendant consented to the breathalyzer test, which indicated that the defendant's breath alcohol concentration was .19%. In addition to offering testimony on the administration of the breathalyzer test, Officer Johnson testified that the defendant was unsteady on his feet and had slurred speech. Officer Ferguson also testified that the defendant was unsteady on his feet and added that Butler was belligerent during the transport from the Wal-Mart store to the police station.
Janae Owen, the State's final witness, testified that she witnessed Deputy Owen bring Butler into the store from the parking lot. She testified that the defendant told Deputy Owen that he had driven to Wal-Mart to get a sparkplug for his motorcycle. She also stated that the defendant was staggering around and "just reeked with the smell of alcohol."
In his own defense, Butler testified that the purpose of his trip to Wal-Mart was to get some food because he had not eaten that day. He stated that his motorcycle began to sputter during the trip and that it stopped working when he got to Wal-Mart. Butler stated that he had stopped at the liquor store, where he purchased the bottle of tequila, prior to going to Wal-Mart. After arriving at the Wal-Mart store, the defendant testified that he could not decide what he wanted to eat so he began drinking the tequila while browsing through the automotive department. He also stated that he thought that the tequila would help him cope with a painful toothache. The defendant testified that he was not having success finding a matching sparkplug for his motorcycle in the sparkplug books, so he decided to remove the sparkplug from his motorcycle hoping to match it with one for sale inside the store. Butler testified that when he removed the sparkplug from his motorcycle and attempted to walk back into the store, he was confronted by Deputy Owen. On cross-examination, Butler admitted having mechanical trouble with his motorcycle earlier that day and not merely when he arrived at Wal-Mart.
Additionally, Mr. Carroll Henderson, a mechanic, testified that a few days after the motorcycle was towed from the Wal-Mart parking lot to Gene's
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