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State v. Speight9/7/2004
Timmy Wayne Speight ("defendant") appeals from three separate judgments dated 30 August 2002 entered consistent with a jury verdict finding him guilty of two counts of involuntary manslaughter and one count of driving while impaired ("DWI"). As a result of his convictions, defendant was given an active sentence of two consecutive prison terms, with minimum terms of twenty months and corresponding maximum terms of twenty-four months on the involuntary manslaughter convictions and an additional consecutive sentence of twelve months for the DWI conviction. For the reasons stated herein, we conclude there was no prejudicial error at trial, however, we remand for resentencing.
The State's evidence tends to show that defendant was driving a Camaro northbound on Highway 11 in Pitt County, North Carolina. Several witnesses testified that defendant was cutting in and out of heavy rush hour traffic and driving at speeds estimated between sixty and eighty miles per hour. As traffic passed through a stoplight, defendant's car cut in front of another vehicle. Defendant lost control of his vehicle, skidded across the median, hit a pole, and collided head on into a white Buick traveling in the opposite direction with such force that the Buick was flipped upside down. The collision killed both the driver of the Buick, Lynwood Thomas, and his son, Donald Thomas, a passenger in the car.
One of the responding EMS technicians testified that as he was attending to defendant in his car at the scene, the EMS technician detected the odor of alcohol. While defendant was being extracted from his vehicle, Officer M. L. Montayne ("Officer Montayne") of the Greenville Police Department, also detected a slight odor of alcohol inside the Camaro. Officer Montayne also received accounts from four or five witnesses who observed defendant's driving and the resulting collision.
Defendant was transported to a hospital via ambulance, and Officer Montayne followed. At the hospital, Officer Montayne talked with defendant and noted a moderate odor of alcohol on defendant's breath. Based upon the severity of the collision, the witnesses' observations, and the odor of alcohol in the car and on defendant's breath, Officer Montayne reached the opinion that defendant had consumed sufficient alcohol to appreciably impair his mental and physical faculties and charged defendant with DWI.
After Officer Montayne read defendant his chemical testing rights, defendant signed a form acknowledging he understood those rights and signed a separate form consenting to giving blood samples. Defendant also subsequently signed a form consenting to the release of all of his medical records to the district attorney's office. Blood samples were taken and given to the State Bureau of Investigation ("SBI") for analysis. The SBI analysis revealed defendant had a blood alcohol level of .10 and further analysis showed the presence of THC, a chemical found in marijuana, in defendant's blood. There was also evidence that analysis of defendant's hospital records showed defendant with a blood alcohol level of .11 based on the hospital's testing. At trial, an SBI analyst gave expert testimony that he performed retroactive analysis of both the SBI blood testing and the hospital's blood testing, which would extrapolate defendant's blood alcohol level back to the time of the accident. The results of both extrapolations showed that at the time of the collision, defendant had a .13 blood alcohol level.
Defendant was indicted on two counts of second degree murder and one count of DWI. Prior to trial, defendant moved as an indigent defendant for funds to hire a medical expert and an accident reconstruction expert. The trial court denied both motions. On
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