 |
 |
to fill out a simple form to connect to DUI Lawyers in your area.
|
|
|
|
|
Gamble v. State1/26/2005
NOTICE
Memorandum decisions of this court do not create legal precedent. See Alaska Appellate Rule 214(d) and Paragraph 7 of the Guidelines for Publication of Court of Appeals Decisions (Court of Appeals Order No. 3). Accordingly, this memorandum decision may not be cited as binding precedent for any proposition of law.
MEMORANDUM OPINION AND JUDGMENT
No. 4965
Stacy Lee Gamble appeals his convictions for felony driving while intoxicated, vehicle theft in the first degree, and driving with a revoked license. Gamble contends that the State violated the corpus delicti rule by obtaining these convictions based primarily upon statements he made to a state trooper - statements he claims were inadequately corroborated. He also argues that his conviction for vehicle theft was not supported by sufficient evidence because the State did not prove that he did not have permission to use his girlfriend's car. We conclude that the State did not violate the corpus delicti rule because Gamble's statements were sufficiently corroborated. We also conclude that the State presented sufficient evidence for a jury to find that Gamble did not have permission to use his girlfriend's car.
Factual Background
During the early morning hours of July 25th, 2002Stacy Gamble had an argumentwith his girlfriend, Lani Sowle. Both Gamble and Sowle were intoxicated. Although the two lived together, the apartment was Sowle's and she asked Gamble to leave. Sowle went to her bedroom and did not see Gamble depart, but when she woke later that day, he was gone. The spare key to Sowle's black Buick Skylark and the car itself were also gone. Sowle called the police and reported her car as stolen.
During the afternoon of July 25th, Lori McComsey was driving south from Anchorage on the Seward Highway. According to McComsey, just south of the turnoff to Hope, she noticed a black sedan driving very erratically behind her. This sedan was later identified as Sowle's Buick Skylark. The car "jerk back one way the other" crossing the fog line and center line repeatedly. As the sedan yawed back and forth, "half of the car would be over the center line" and well into the lane carrying oncoming traffic. McComsey observed this pattern for several miles. She then used her cellular phone to call 911.
In her telephone call to 911, McComsey described the sedan and provided its license plate number. She also described the driver as a male wearing a black cowboy or fishing hat. She reported that the driver was the only person in the car. (At trial, McComsey was unable to positively identify Gamble as the driver.) McComsey lost sight of the Sedan when it turned off onto the Sterling Highway towards Kenai, while she continued on the Seward Highway.
Alaska State Trooper Paul Randall, who was stationed in Cooper Landing, received McComsey's report. He also received information that the sedan had been reported as stolen. Trooper Randall waited for the car at Cooper Landing.
Trooper Randall saw Sowle's car drive past. But there were two people in the car, and he did not notice any erratic driving. The car pulled over in a turnout and Trooper Randall pulled in behind, activating his overhead lights. He then ordered the car's occupants to get out.
Wayne Whitley got out of the driver's seat. Whitley told Trooper Randall he had been staying at the Summit Lake Lodge. He identified himself with a Georgia driver's license. Whitley did not show any signs that he was intoxicated, and Trooper Randall released him at the scene. (The Troopers were later unable to contact Whitley to testify at Gamble's trial.)
Gamble got out of
Page 1 2 3 Alaska DUI Attorneys
DUI Lawyers
|
| |
to fill out a simple form to connect to DUI Lawyers in your area.
|
|