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State v. Cooper9/20/2004
FACTS
On August 4, 1997, the Blount County Grand Jury indicted the defendant, Kathy E. Cooper, on one count of vehicular homicide by intoxication and one count of vehicular homicide by reckless driving based on a September 27, 1996, incident in which the intoxicated defendant caused a traffic accident that resulted in the death of her passenger, Danny Lee Walker. On January 26, 1998, the defendant pled guilty to vehicular homicide by intoxication, with the second count of the indictment merged into the first, in exchange for an eight-year- sentence as a Range I, standard offender. Pursuant to the plea agreement, the manner of service of the sentence was left to the trial court's later determination.
The defendant testified at the April 20, 1998, sentencing hearing that she was single, 40 years old, and the mother of two children: twenty-one-year-old Chastity, who was married and had a fourteen-month- old child, and fourteen-year-old Kelly, who still lived at home. The defendant said she was physically and mentally disabled, received disability benefits, and did not work. She received regular counseling from a social worker and was under the care of a physician for her rheumatoid arthritis, which had resulted from the severe injuries, including multiple broken bones, she sustained in the accident. In addition, she would never again be able to hear out of her right ear and was unable to sleep at night because of recurring nightmares.
The defendant testified she was currently taking Diazepam, or Valium, Hydrocodone, and Prozac, was taking Diazepam and Prozac during the time the accident occurred, and had taken her prescribed medication before the accident. She conceded she had also drunk as many as four beers and smoked crack cocaine that the victim gave her. She said the accident occurred as she was giving the intoxicated victim a ride at night during a heavy rain. According to her testimony, she swerved onto the right shoulder and the victim grabbed the steering wheel from her, causing their head-on collision with a truck. The defendant acknowledged she had been intoxicated at the time of the accident but denied she had been speeding.
The defendant testified that the victim was her best friend and had told her he loved her right before the fatal accident. She said she had frequent nightmares about his death. She did not learn until after his death that he was married and had since that time contacted his wife and mother to apologize. The defendant asserted she had changed her life since the accident. She no longer drank or used illegal drugs, avoided the company of those who did, and regularly attended church. She said she was the only parent her younger daughter had and requested that the trial court award her probation so that she could remain home to support and care for her daughter. Among other evidence the defendant introduced was an eloquent letter from the victim's wife to the trial court, in which she requested that the defendant be granted probation with appropriate psychological, alcohol, and drug counseling in order to prevent the defendant's younger daughter from suffering the deprivation of a parent, as had the victim's two sons.
The defendant's daughters, Chastity Vananda and Kelly Cooper, each testified that the defendant had begun attending church and that they had observed a real change in her since the accident. Vananda described the defendant as a "wonderful mother" and said she had "straightened up a lot" and was "doing better for herself." Cooper, who said she had no father, testified that the defendant was spending time with her and was "just a lot better now." Finally, the defendant's pastor, Kenny Walker, testified that t
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