 |
 |
to fill out a simple form to connect to DUI Lawyers in your area.
|
|
|
|
|
Hooks v. State3/7/2001
mpact. Dr. Palmer steadfastly denied that Carney's injuries indicated that he was struck on the right side or on the front.
The defense did, however, elicit on cross-examination of Officer Willingham testimony that whether a driver was sober or drunk, it would be physically impossible for that driver to react in time to avoid hitting someone who suddenly appeared in front of the driver's vehicle. The defense also elicited testimony from Natasha Grizzaffi, a chemist at the DPS Garland crime laboratory, that Carney's blue jeans exhibited a black V-shaped marking, corresponding to the license plate holder on Hooks' truck, about one inch from the right side seam toward the back of the jeans. However, Grizzaffi found other black marks on the backs of the legs of the jeans indicating that Carney had been struck from behind. Furthermore, testimony showed that Carney had a blood alcohol level of .089 percent, but Dr. Palmer explained that this level would not impair a person's faculties as compared to a blood alcohol level of nearly .3 percent, as Hooks had.
Additionally, as alluded to by the State, Carney's exact location in relation to U.S. Highway 80 cannot be determined from reviewing Hooks' two statements. The jury, as fact finder, weighed these statements against the evidence gathered at the scene, as well as the accident reconstruction undertaken by various law enforcement personnel and the medical opinions regarding Carney's injuries formulated by Dr. Palmer, in making its decision.
We disagree with Hooks' contention that the evidence is factually insufficient. As noted earlier, the main issue challenged by Hooks on appeal is whether the State proved beyond a reasonable doubt that he struck Carney while he was off the roadway. Hooks has not provided conclusive or overwhelming evidence that would discredit the jury's finding. The jury is the sole judge of the weight and credibility of the evidence and testimony produced at trial. As such, it can choose, as it did, to find the combined testimony of the State's witnesses more compelling than the two statements provided by Hooks. In conducting a factual sufficiency review, we must examine the complete record. In our neutral consideration of the entire record, we cannot find that the jury's finding is against the overwhelming weight of the evidence.
Hooks also contends that the trial court erred by denying his motion for a continuance because of the widespread publicity regarding a similar intoxication manslaughter case and the potential for inflammatory attitudes in the community from which the jury pool was selected. A few weeks before Hooks' trial, the Marshall News Messenger published multiple front-page stories about an accident that occurred on New Year's Eve in which Vicki Kuhn, an intoxicated driver, crossed the center stripe of U.S. Highway 80 and struck an oncoming car, killing two young boys and severely injuring their mother and two other boys. In his motion for continuance, Hooks argued that the publicity created by the local media coverage for that case would prejudice him by inflaming the community's attitudes toward intoxication manslaughter cases generally, thus effectively denying him a fair trial.
In Lopez v. State, the Court of Criminal Appeals considered a similar case involving the shooting death of a school principal and the publicity created by the shooting of a junior high school teacher by a student. Lopez v. State, 628 S.W.2d 77, 80-81 (Tex. Crim. App. [Panel Op.] 1982). The appellant in Lopez filed a motion for continuance, arguing that the adverse publicity generated by the school shooting would taint the jury panel. The motion was filed before jury selection and was accompanied onl
Page 1 2 3 4 5 6 Texas DUI Attorneys
DUI Lawyers
|
| |
to fill out a simple form to connect to DUI Lawyers in your area.
|
|