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Dunn v. State8/19/2004
Marvin Dunn appeals his conviction for driving while intoxicated. Appellant was found guilty by a jury and sentenced to eight years’ imprisonment in the Texas Department of Criminal Justice together with a $500 fine. We affirm.
FACTUAL SUMMARY
On the evening of April 13, 2002, Veronica Montes entered I-10 at Zaragosa in El Paso. She was following behind two tractor-trailers and a white minivan for approximately twenty minutes. As Montes approached the downtown exit, Trailer No. 1 was in the passing lane and driving approximately 60 m.p.h. Trailer No. 2 was behind Trailer No. 1. Trailer No. 2 then moved into the next lane and began weaving in and out and straddling the lanes. Montes backed off because she thought Trailer No. 2 was going too fast or that something was wrong. Near the Schuster exit, Montes saw Trailer No. 2 catch up to the white minivan, get really close, and start to depress the brake lights. Trailer No. 2 then began to change lanes, but the truck was not going to make it because Trailer No. 1 was in the lane. Trailer No. 2 hit Trailer No. 1 on the front right-hand side. Montes saw smoke and changed lanes so that Trailer No. 1 would not hit her, but the driver controlled the truck and pulled over into the emergency lane. Trailer No. 2 left the scene. Montes followed it as it continued down the freeway and exited at Executive Center. She wrote down the license plate number. When the truck proceeded immediately back onto the Interstate, Montes then turned back and returned to the scene where she gave the driver of Trailer No. 1 the license plate number. Montes never saw the driver of Trailer No. 2.
Angela Sommers, a field supervisor with the El Paso Police Department, heard a spot broadcast about a hit-and-run accident. She believed that the accident involved two tractor-trailers and that one had hit the guardrail while the other had fled the scene. Sommers proceeded to the on-ramp at Sunland Park to wait for the vehicle. She was looking for a red Volvo 18-wheeler bearing Tennessee plates with a white shiny trailer labeled “Volunteer Transport.” Sommers also knew the license plate number.She spotted the vehicle traveling in the inside lane at a high rate of speed. She characterized it as driving erratically from the inside lane to the center lane. Other people on the road were actually fleeing from side to side to get out of the vehicle’s way. The trailer was not fishtailing but was swaying back and forth. Sommers was running with the lights and sirens operating and she pulled onto the Interstate behind the vehicle. Although she picked it up at Sunland Park, it did not pull over until just before the Mesa exit. The vehicle was traveling well over 70 m.p.h.
Sommers stopped the truck, notified dispatch, and verified the plates, which matched the dispatch description. As Sommers approached, the driver, later identified as Appellant, stumbled out the door and approached her. He was sweating profusely, which Sommers found odd since it was a cool April night. Appellant seemed nervous and approached Sommers with squared shoulders as if tense and fearful of the situation. Sommers asked Appellant for his license and insurance and whether he knew he had been involved in an accident. Appellant responded that he had no clue. Sommers observed damage to Appellant’s vehicle around the front right-hand side on the top bumper area. She also noticed the odor of alcohol. When additional officers arrived at the scene, she informed them that Appellant might be a drunk driver. The officers then took custody of Appellant and transported him back to the accident site to see if he could be identified.
Officers Adrian Estrada and Juan Ferrel were dispatched
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