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Payne v. State8/29/2003
she had come from, she "didn't know where she was at" and "didn't realize she was in Seven Points." Although Appellant told Norris she was traveling from Gun Barrel City, she did not know the location in Gun Barrel City. He further testified that Appellant "acted just like an intoxicated person" because "her speech was slurred" and that when he asked her if she knew what had happened, she said she did not know. When Norris looked inside Appellant's truck, he did not notice any blood or anything on Appellant to indicate to him that she had been injured. Based on his conversations with Appellant and observations of her actions, Norris believed that she was intoxicated and as a result, did not have the normal use of her mental and physical faculties.
On cross-examination, Norris agreed that he did not perform any sobriety tests on Appellant after he arrived at the scene of the accident and that he based his opinion regarding Appellant's intoxication on the conversation he had with Appellant. Norris also agreed that when an individual has slurred speech and the smell of alcohol is absent, that does not necessarily mean that a person is intoxicated. Furthermore, Norris admitted he could give only his subjective opinion that Appellant was intoxicated because he was not aware of any field sobriety tests that she performed.
Herbert Brydon ("Brydon"), a police officer in Tool, Texas, stated that after he arrived at the accident scene, he went to Appellant's vehicle to make sure that she did not leave. Officer Norris later relieved Brydon, and Brydon found a walking cane in a ditch that ran parallel to the highway as he walked away from the vehicle. Brydon stated that he believed that someone involved in the accident had been using the cane prior to the accident.
Wayne Nutt ("Nutt"), an investigator for the Seven Points Police Department, testified that on August 4, 2000, he took an oral statement from Appellant at her home. After Nutt explained to Appellant her Fifth and Sixth Amendment rights, Appellant agreed to talk to him about the accident. Appellant stated that at around noon on July 31, she was at work and began to feel sick, so she decided to go home. As Appellant was driving home, she was "traveling down the road and the next thing knew, the next thing knew, didn't see the woman and [Taylor] was on the pavement." All Appellant knew was that she had " over something," so she stopped. Appellant stated that after she hit "something," she was "in shock" but did not know that she had hit a person. Appellant further stated that about two months before August 4, she had fallen through some bleachers at a rodeo in Kemp, Texas and fractured her foot in two places. She also told Nutt that on the day of the accident, she had been wearing a "walking boot" on her broken foot and she had crutches in her truck.
Appellant stated that when she got up on the morning of July 31, she had diarrhea, but other than that, she was fine. She went to work until noon, then started feeling sick. When Nutt asked Appellant if she recalled telling one of the police officers at the accident scene that she had consumed a 16-ounce beer about five hours before noon on that day, Appellant denied that she had made such a statement to the officer and said that she was "not a drinker." Appellant then told Nutt that on July 31, she had taken 1) Soma, an over-the-counter sleeping aid, 2) Paxil, an antidepressant medication, 3) Lipitor, for high cholesterol, 4) Synthroid, for hypothyroidism, and 5) Lortab, to relieve the pain in her foot. Appellant had been taking Paxil for about ten years. She also stated that she had taken Lortab and Lipitor that morning and again before lunch. At around 11:00 a.m., she
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