 |
 |
to fill out a simple form to connect to DUI Lawyers in your area.
|
|
|
|
|
State v. Giardina5/2/2002
In the light most favorable to the state, the evidence showed that on October 12, 2000, Reverend Teddy Webb drove a Ford Ranger pick-up truck he had borrowed from a friend into the parking lot at the Amoco Quick-Stop in Church Hill. He parked, walked away from the truck, and stood outside the store building talking with Jim Tilson, the owner and operator of the Amoco Quick-Stop. Tilson noticed that a gray Ford LTD bumped into the back of the Ranger. Then, Tilson saw the LTD, with the defendant in the driver's seat, move in reverse a few feet away from the Ranger and stop. Mr. Tilson testified that the backward movement of the car was "upgrade." Mr. Tilson and Mr. Webb went over to investigate and discovered damage to the rear bumper and fender of the Ranger and a broken headlight on the LTD.
The defendant approached Mr. Webb and asked him to "forgive" her. He responded that the would forgive her, but he would still have to have the truck fixed.
Mr. Tilson testified that the defendant's speech was "kind of slurry" and that "she seemed to be disoriented." Mr. Webb testified that the defendant was "mumbling and she couldn't stay focused and she couldn't hardly walk."
A police officer, who was helping a motorist unlock his car parked at the Amoco Quick-Stop, heard a "bang" noise and the sound of breaking glass. He turned within a "second" to see "two vehicles together," a Ford pick-up and a Ford LTD. He saw the defendant alone in the LTD and seated in the driver's seat. The LTD then moved backward a few feet away from the truck
The officer went over and spoke to the defendant, whose speech was slurred to the point that "you could hardly understand a word she was saying." Upon extracting the defendant from the LTD, she staggered and was unsteady on her feet. She had to hold onto the car for support, and the officer determined she was too intoxicated to perform field sobriety tests. The officer opined that the defendant was too impaired to safely operate a motor vehicle.
The officer testified that during his investigation of the incident and arrest of the defendant, the keys to the LTD were in its ignition switch. Hayden Young, the defendant's uncle, had been standing near the station's air compressor and walked up to the two vehicles after the collision occurred. The officer testified that Mr. Young told him that Mr. Young had gone inside the store to get the air hose and "didn't know [the defendant] was going to drive car around there."
The defendant testified that on the morning of October 12, 2000, in preparation for a uterine biopsy to be performed that day, she consumed no food or alcoholic beverages but took two "Lortabs" which were prescribed for the biopsy procedure. Her uncle, Hayden Young, was driving her to her doctor's office in his LTD and stopped at the Amoco Quick-Stop to buy gas and put compressed air into an air tank he carried in his car trunk. The defendant testified that Mr. Young parked the car behind the Ford Ranger, took the keys from the switch to open the trunk, removed the tank, pocketed the keys, and went to the station's compressed air dispenser. The defendant testified that she got out of the car with a tire gauge to check the pressure in the tires. As she was preparing to remove the valve-stem cap from a rear tire she felt an impact when the LTD rolled into the back of the Ranger. She testified that she then got into the LTD to set the automatic transmission gear selector in "park." She further testified that, although she was impaired from the prescription medication, she had not been drinking. She denied driving the LTD at any time on October 12, 2000.
Mr. Young testified that he removed
Page 1 2 3 4 5 Tennessee DUI Attorneys
DUI Lawyers
|
| |
to fill out a simple form to connect to DUI Lawyers in your area.
|
|