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State v. Cothran11/29/2005
FACTS
The convictions at issue in this case stem from a horrific motor vehicle accident that occurred the night of July 19, 2002. The Defendant lost control of his truck while driving on Interstate Forty (I-40) in rural Hickman County, crossed the median and careened head-on into a minivan, killing four individuals and seriously injuring three. The Defendant was indicted by a Hickman County grand jury in a seventeen-count indictment in December of 2002, and received a jury trial in December of 2003.
The record reflects that the victims, a family of seven, were driving east on I-40 from west Tennessee on their way to Maryland to visit the children's grandparents when the accident occurred shortly after 9:00 at night. The Defendant, a truck driver by profession, was traveling westbound on I-40 in a 19,000 pound garbage truck on his way to California. Mr. Donald Person testified that he was traveling eastbound on the same interstate that night and saw the Defendant's truck "acting erratically" on the opposite side of the interstate. Mr. Person slowed, and as he did he witnessed the garbage truck side-swipe another truck then suddenly cross the median, go "airborne," and hit the minivan traveling just in front of him.
Mr. Oscar Maynez, a professional truck driver, testified that he was following the garbage truck west-bound when he observed it "bump" the truck it was attempting to pass. Only moments earlier Mr. Oscar Maynez had been attempting to pass the Defendant's garbage truck himself when it cut in front of him, forcing him to apply his engine brakes and "back off." As he did, he saw the garbage truck signal right as if to pull back in behind the other truck in an aborted attempt to pass, but in doing so it side-swiped the truck and then started "going all over the road." Mr. Oscar Maynez stated that the Defendant "started fish- tailing, going crazy," and then "ran into the median . . . almost flipped over . . . then he got control again he went airborne onto the east bound side."
Mr. Miles Faulkenham, a professional truck driver from Nova Scotia, Canada, testified that he was driving an empty tractor-trailer rig west- bound on I-40 that night, and first saw the Defendant in his rearview mirror as the Defendant attempted to pass him. Mr. Faulkenham stated that the Defendant approached fast, pulled up along side his rig, struck him on the side of his trailer, then "started to weave" and ultimately lost control and crossed the median.
Immediately after the accident, several eye witnesses stopped their vehicles and ran to the crash site. Mr. Person stated that he saw the Defendant climb out of his overturned truck, and as he did he "threw something out of the truck," which Mr. Person later determined to be a beer can. When Mr. Person tried to talk to the Defendant, the Defendant was "incoherent," and did not know where he was. Mr. Person also testified that he "smelled alcohol" on the Defendant; saw a twelve-pack of Old Milwaukee's Best beer near the garbage truck; and observed the State Trooper conduct field sobriety tests. Based on his observations, Mr. Person concluded the Defendant was intoxicated, further stating: "It is my opinion [the Defendant] was impaired."
Mr. Oscar Maynez testified that when he first ran down the embankment where the minivan had come to rest after being hit, he "started hearing little kids crying, begging for help . . . crying for their mom and dad." He then saw the Defendant get out of his truck and "take a big ol' chug of beer." After the Defendant had taken this "long-ass chug" of Milwaukee's Best beer, he threw the empty can into the bushes. Mr. Oscar Maynez concluded that "it was obvious that [the
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