 |
 |
to fill out a simple form to connect to DUI Lawyers in your area.
|
|
|
|
|
State v. Ball4/6/2005
On December 17, 2002, sometime after 1:00 a.m., Officer Travis Eggers was on routine patrol in Greeneville. He was assigned to the Commercial Vehicle Enforcement Division of the Tennessee Department of Safety and was certified to operate the Intoximeter 3000. At some point, of which Officer Eggers was uncertain, he was driving southbound on Interstate 81 followed by a tractor-trailer truck that the officer was escorting off the road and putting "out of service." The officer spied the defendant's vehicle, a pickup truck, stopped on the other side of the road with the flashers on, and he could make out the figure of a lone individual.
Officer Eggers did not stop at that time to investigate. He continued to escort the tractor-trailer truck for another seven miles, turned off at Exit 36, and waited to ensure that the tractor-trailer truck pulled off at a designated location. Officer Eggers then re- entered the interstate traveling north and pulled over at mile marker 43 where the defendant's truck was parked on the shoulder of the road. Officer Eggers testified that 14 minutes elapsed between the time he first saw the vehicle and when he returned to it.
Officer Eggers said that when he first arrived at the location of the defendant's vehicle, the defendant was standing at the side of the vehicle. When the officer got out of his cruiser, the defendant approached and advised that he was out of gas. Officer Eggers offered to help, and he testified that he did not independently verify whether the truck needed gasoline. The keys to the truck were in the defendant's right front pants pocket, and the officer saw no evidence of alcohol in or around the truck. The officer never asked or otherwise determined when the defendant's vehicle ran out of gas, did not check the hood to see if the engine was warm, and did not attempt to start the vehicle. During the course of further discussions, Officer Eggers began to suspect that the defendant was intoxicated.
The encounter between the men was recorded on the officer's in-car video camera, and the video tape was played for the jury. Officer Eggers testified that he arrested the defendant on the charge of driving under the influence and transported him to the Greene County weigh station to perform a breathalyzer test. The intoximeter printout registered a breath/alcohol level of 0.18.
Officer Eggers was the state's sole witness at trial. The defendant called William Grover, who resided in Jefferson City and had been a long-time acquaintance of the defendant. Mr. Grover testified that the defendant came to his house on December 16, 2002, at approximately 7:00 p.m. The defendant had with him a six-pack of beer; he consumed two and one-half bottles of beer while at Mr. Grover's residence and left three full bottles when he departed shortly after 10:00 p.m. Mr. Grover noticed nothing unusual about the defendant's sobriety when he arrived, and Mr. Grover testified that in his opinion the defendant had complete control of his faculties when he departed. Mr. Grover said that the defendant was hearing-impaired, and the evening that the defendant visited, the defendant complained of a cold or sinus ailment.
The defendant took the stand. He explained that Mr. Grover had extended an invitation to visit and that Mr. Grover had shown an interest in buying the defendant's truck. The defendant confirmed that he had a hearing problem stemming from his service in Vietnam and that on the evening he visited Mr. Grover, he had a cold and had been taking Afrin nasal spray and Nyquil. The defendant said that he had not been drinking before he arrived at Mr. Grover's house, and during his three- hour visit, he consumed two or three beers.
Page 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Tennessee DUI Attorneys
DUI Lawyers
|
| |
to fill out a simple form to connect to DUI Lawyers in your area.
|
|