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[W] Landers v. State4/17/2003
ett testified that appellant slurred her words, stumbled, had poor coordination, and was sluggish. Her performance was poor on field sobriety tests Barnett conducted and videotaped. The videotape was admitted into evidence. Appellant admitted to Barnett that she had taken Prozac, Valium, and pain medication that evening. At the police station, she remained unable to walk without assistance, was too incapacitated to give a urine sample, and became delirious and incoherent. Because Barnett feared appellant had had an overdose, he had her transported to the hospital. There, the Emergency Room physician, Dr. Nguyen, observed that appellant arrived asleep and had to be awakened. Appellant told Dr. Nguyen that she had taken fifteen tablets of Proposet (a combination of Tylenol and opiate drug) six hours earlier, at about 7:00 p.m. Dr. Nguyen testified that Proposet alone, and in combination with Valium, would cause drowsiness; that the maximum effect of the drugs would be approximately two hours after ingestion, and would continue for some time. In Dr. Nguyen's opinion, appellant had lost the normal use of her mental faculties based on an overdose of the opiate drug, Proposet.
Viewed in the light most favorable to the verdict, the evidence is legally sufficient to support the jury's verdict. Lucero, 915 S.W.2d at 614. We overrule appellant's first issue.
C. Factual Sufficiency
Appellant testified and presented an alternative explanation to the State's as to when and why the accident occurred, and her condition at the time of the accident, at the hospital, and when the officers observed her. She claimed the accident took place two hours earlier, at about 7:45–8:00 p.m. She testified that the clutch was out on her truck, and her momentary inattention plus the poor working condition of her truck caused the accident. Her parents testified that the truck was in poor repair and had been in the shop; that her mother had driven her to work that morning; and that her father had her truck towed to the parking lot at her work that day. Additionally, appellant's neighbor testified that she visited with appellant that evening between 8 p.m. and 8:45 p.m., and that she observed no signs of intoxication. Appellant's explanation for her condition was that she took her nightly prescription medication at home during the two hours after the accident occurred, and thus came under the undisputed influence of drugs after the accident. Moreover, no peace officer smelled alcohol on her breath, and she passed an intoxilizer test. Therefore, she argues, the evidence was factually insufficient to support a finding that she lost her mental faculties while operating a motor vehicle.
The jury is the sole judge of the facts, the witnesses' credibility, and the weight to be given the evidence. Clewis v. State, 922 S.W.2d at 129. The jury may believe or disbelieve any portion of the witnesses' testimony. Beckham v. State, 29 S.W.3d 148, 151 (Tex. App.—Houston [14th Dist.] 2000, pet. ref'd). Contradictions or conflicts in the witnesses' testimony do not destroy the sufficiency of the evidence, but go to its weight and to the credibility the jury assigns to the witnesses. Id. The jury exclusively resolves conflicting testimony, and a reviewing court may not substitute its conclusions for the jury's, nor interfere with the jury's resolution of conflicts in the evidence. Id. at 52.
Based on appellant's own admission to Dr. Nguyen that she took 15 tablets of Proposet at about 7 p.m. that night, and the observations of the independent eyewitnesses — Baxter, the three peace officers, and Dr. Nguyen — we conclude the evidence was factually sufficient to support the finding that she was intoxicated while
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