Friday, February 25, 2011

Rainy Thursday in Nashville

On an extremely wet Thursday, Feb 24th in Nashville, the bad drivers were still out endangering everyone else.

Driving on a Revoked, Suspend or Cancelled license= 29
No Driver's License= 17
DUI = 3
Implied Consent =2

The DUI drivers: 1 57 year old male crashed into a telephone pole after drinking vodka; 1 revoked driver was tailgating. He took off when the blue lights came on and then ran after he hit a car in a parking lot. He landed in mud and refused testing. 1 was passed out in his car and had a .165 BAC.


High school student dies in crash

A Bearden High Schoold student in Knoxville has passed away and his sister in I.C.U.
Please keep the Schepens family in your thoughts and prayers.

4th Rutherford County teacher arrested in one year

Are teachers role models?
If so, the role some are modeling in Rutherford County is the role of Otis Campbell, the Mayberry town drunk. The article about the latest teacher arrested reveals that she is the 4th Rutherford County teacher busted for DUI this year.

DUI arrest leads to 1st degree murder conviction

Defendant Broussard in Sparta, Tn was arrested for DUI. The truck he was driving was impounded. It had been stolen from the murder victim. Broussard was identified as a suspect in the murder. The murder weapon, a claw hammer was wrapped in a towel with blood from the victim in the truck.
Broussard was convicted and sentenced to life.
Read about it at:

Wednesday, February 23, 2011

Man who killed with his walker gets 3 years

Herineldo Cintron received a 15 year sentence for Vehicular Homicide. He had three DUI convictions before he killed in his most recent DUI crime. As a result of injuries he received in his crash, he had to use a walker. He beat and killed his brother in law with the walker. He has now received a 3 year sentence for the walker killing.
Read all the pitiful, ridiculous, sad details of Cintron's activities at:

Congratulations Trooper Dwayne Stanford

The Tennessee Highway Patrol has named Trooper Dwayne Stanford, trooper of the year.
Read about Trooper Stanford and the troopers honored in each district at:

Drag racing crash gets 9 years probation

19 year old Mark Perkins pled guilty to reckless vehicular homicide, reckless endangerment and leaving the scene in Knox County. He, according to the News Sentinel, pled and immediately received a sentence of 9 years on probation. The two people killed were in a car attempting to pass Perkins. The two who died were 18 and 16 years old.

Friday, February 18, 2011

7th DUI Offender Bond Revocation

Brooklynn Martin Townsend in the 10th Judicial District (Cleveland) has removed a 7th offender from our streets for a while. The offender was out on bond for a 7th offense DUI, when he committed another DUI. His bond was revoked. Both cases are pending for trial or disposition.

18th DUI Conviction!

ADA Greg Eshbaugh in Sevier County had the pleasure of removing Dennis Michael Reagan from our streets for a while. Reagan pled guilty to his 18th DUI. He was also a Habitual Traffic Offender.
Reagan crashed in February and was apprehended by Deputy Blaine Lewis. He refused to perform field tests and of course refused a breath or blood test. Reagan has 9 prior felony convictions and received a sentence of 6 years as a career offender. He will have to serve 60% of his sentence before being eligible for parole. With good time credits he could be out after serving less than the minimum.

Wednesday, February 16, 2011

Congratulations 23rd Judicial District Drug Court

The Drug Court in Dickson County has earned State certification.

The state has 10 key components and benchmarks for effective drug court programs.

“Our Drug Court promotes responsibility and accountability and teaches participants to become productive citizens in the community,” said District Attorney General Dan Alsobrooks in a press release. “The drug court program is an alternative to incarceration and integrates chemical dependency treatment and community resources with the criminal justice system.”

Recidivist danger

In 2009 drivers with a BAC of .08 or higher in fatal crashes were 8 times more likely to have a prior DUI conviction than were drivers with no alcohol. Source: Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS)

Monday, February 14, 2011

Saturday in the Music City

Traffic offenses Saturday Feb 12th:

Driving on Revoked, Cancelled, Suspended: 61
No Driver's License: 23
DUI: 14
Implied Consent: 4
Leaving the Scene: 3

What did our DUI people do?
5 crashes, 2 citizen calls, 3 red light runners, 1 speeding & swerving. High BAC: .322! and a crash with several vehicles for that one. Average BAC: .176. Several took blood tests due to suspected or admitted drug intake.

8 years to serve in Memphis

Jason Whiteside killed one of his passengers and injured two others when he decided to flee from law enforcement after running a red light. The police gave up their pursuit due to danger, but discovered a crash scene minutes later. Whiteside had outstanding warrants in Mississippi and was on bond for a crime in Georgia. Whiteside wanted probation after pleading guilty to the Class B vehicular homicide by intoxication charge, but was denied.
Susan Taylor represented the people of the State.

Saturday, February 12, 2011

Memphis Commercial Appeal focuses on multiple offenders

In the Memphis paper, an article detailing the problems caused by multiple offenders is featured. It includes information that there are over 54,000 third offenders in Tennessee.

Read about it at:

Friday, February 11, 2011

DUI Driver causes 3 crashes in Nashville. Bond law attacked.

News Channel 5 in Nashville reports today about a suspected drunk driver who caused three crashes in one incident. Read about it at:

Meanwhile Channel 4 reports that defense lawyers are fretting about the bond issue. Read about it at:

I guess there are some people hoping that our multiple DUI offenders can continue to put up a $100 or $200 to a bondsman and that our Courts will ignore the danger aspect of multiple offenders. We can't have our multiple offenders inconvenienced or delayed in getting back to the bar in their cars with their revoked licenses. We can't infringe upon their constitutional right to drink, drive, maim and kill just because they infringe on the rights of law abiding citizens to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness as they crash, injure and kill.

Thursday, February 10, 2011

Cocaine stop

Trooper Michael Kilpatrick stopped a van on I-40 for following another vehicle too closely.
The stop resulted in the discovery of 1/2 pound of cocaine.
Read about it at:

Wednesday, February 9, 2011

Criminal wardrobe malfunction

This dude in Kingsport sported a t-shirt with a message he appears to adamantly believe, "Maturity is overrated". To display his belief he allegedly drove a 2002 Mercedes 120 mph on Stone Drive in a 55 mph zone. He also had a bunch of drugs with him and had been smoking the evil weed. To make matters worse he also had a terrified passenger, who thought she was going to die. Now he gets to go to Court.
Read about this gentleman, who is presumed innocent in the Kingsport Times News at:

How not to pose for your mugshot

This guy was booked in Sullivan County for vandalism. Wonder if he is taking his arrest seriously!

Painkiller tourism results in Federal convictions

The Morristown Citizen Tribune includes a fascinating article detailing an East Tennessee painkiller tourism ring. These criminals would take other criminals to Florida to visit numerous pain clinics to get pills to be sold in our State. Two defendants have entered guilty pleas. Other cases including that of the alleged kingpin are still pending. Read about the details of the ring at:

Law of gravity results in citation

Some news items are too strange to pass up. The Cookeville Herald Citizen included a story today about a man who fell through a church ceiling. I'm sure something about climbing up into the ceiling made sense to this gentleman, but he was cited for trespassing anyway.
Read about it at:

Former Crocket County judge arrested on meth charges

This isn't good. A former Sessions Court Judge has been arrested for meth in west Tennessee. The former Judge is currently a practicing attorney. Read about it at:

Two killed in Birchwood

A truck crossed the center line and slammed into a Ford Mustang last night. Two were killed. The driver of the pickup survived and is hospitalized. Alcohol/drug tests are pending.
Please keep these crash victims in your thoughts and prayers.

Read about the tragic event at:

Tuesday, February 8, 2011

Super Bowl Sunday in the Capitol City

Driving on Revoked, Cancelled, Suspended: 12
No D.L.: 2
DUI : 13
Implied Consent: 3
Leaving Scene: 2

What did the DUI drivers do? 3 crashes, 2 speeding more than 20 over the limit, 2 no headlights, 2 crossing lines, 1 blocked lane, 1 stuck on railroad tracks, 1 passed out, 1 domestic violence after Super Bowl party.
High BAC was .237. The average breath test was .153 from 7 offenders. 3 had pot. 1 tried to fool the officer with another person's driver license.
Those arrested were: Charles Lee Scott, Donnell Wheeler, Kyle Hampton, Edwin Rodriguez, Julia Hale, William Bridgewater, Richard Brann, Andrew Bixler, Josheph Boweres, Oscar Velasco, Catherine Harrison-Clark, David Jones and Jejuan London.

Fatalities

So far this year, we have lost 59 people on Tennessee roads.
That is down from 92 lost as of this date last year.

Saturday, February 5, 2011

Father fights parole bid

The Knoxville News Sentinel includes a story about a dad fighting against parole for the criminal who killed his daughter in an aggravated vehicular homicide case. The criminal, according to the story had a 26 year sentence. He like all vehicular homicide criminals is eligible for parole arter serving 30%. This was the second parole hearing in the case. The dad drives from Ohio to participate.

24/7 Sobriety program article

In South Dakota and some other locations, to monitor alcohol intake among probationers, the person reports two times a day to take a breath test.
Read about a county exploring the program at:

Friday, February 4, 2011

Nashville Driving Offenses Feb 3, 2011

Driving on Revoked, Cancelled, Suspended License =48

No Driver's License = 25

DUI = 8

Implied Consent = 4

Two were alleged to have driven after consuming alcohol and drugs.

Those arrested for DUI were: Sonja Holloway, Thomas Cardwell, Vanessa Trenor, Andres Saenz, David Gilbert, Autonius Pleasant, Cynita Stewart, Andy Popplewell

Nashville Driving Offenses Feb 2, 2011

Driving on Revoked, Cancelled, Suspended License = 55
No Driver's License = 27
DUI = 15
Implied Consent =11 That is a 73% refusal rate for the day.

What did they do? Five were in crashes: One ran into a 2 year old child. Another rolled his car over and left the scene. A third hit another car and left the scene. A fourth went off the road and sideswiped a car. The fifth slammed into his girlfriends car during a domestic violence incident.
One was a 3rd offender and refused testing. Another was a 2nd offender and refused. One refused to answer when asked to take a test. Another asked for a lawyer instead of a test. One drove around a road blockade in a construction project and was going the wrong way on a 1 way street. Another was stopped by a citizen, who pulled the keys from the ignition. Another ran a stop sign. One was going 75 mph in a 55 zone. Another was swerving.
One pled guilty to reckless driving in December after a previous DUI arrest.

Those arrested were: Richard Sanders, Christopher Ringer, Jason Carmon, Cody Overstreet, Christopher Maag, Allen Gilliam, Bruce Kiper, Lucy Miller, Tyler Glaser, Regina Little, Nicole Winningham, John Kidd, Joe Patton, James Allen and Tulio Cortes Soto.
Soto and Overstreet pled guilty the next day in Court. The others are, of course, presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.

Vehicular Homicide Sentencing Frustration

Channel 4 News in Nashville ran a story Thursday in which a family expressed disappointment and frustration with the fact that vehicular homicide parole eligibility is 30%. The Story is entitled: Vehicular Homicide Draws Lighter Sentence.
However, it is really about parole eligibility. The sentence in the case was 16 years. The parole hearing is happening soon after 5 years. Sometimes, the public is shocked when they learn that 16 means 5 in Tennessee. (We wonder why our math scores are so low in our schools!)
Read about it at:
http://www.wsmv.com/news/26736054/detail.html

Thursday, February 3, 2011

DUI, Texting driver collides with house

In Knoxville WBIR News has reported of a late night arrest. A 27 year old woman is charged after allegedly admitting that she was texting when she drove into a house. She was also charged with DUI and shockingly she refused to comply with the implied consent requirement.

Wednesday, February 2, 2011

Tragic loss

Ryan Seymour,17, of Greenback and his buddies were riding together when the Suburban they were riding in left the right side of the road when rounding a curve heading south on the highway. The SUV flipped and came to rest on the northbound side of the road, according to a report by Trooper Joey Lindsay.
Ryan and two friends were ejected. They were not wearing seatbelts. Now a small community grieves and classmates try to make sense of a tragic loss. Keep them in your thoughts and prayers.
Read about this fine young man at:
http://www.knoxnews.com/news/2011/jan/21/greenback-player-dies-car-crash-injuries/

Safe driving requires full attention

A nice Opinion piece appeared the Tennessean today. It was written by Cpl. Tyler Chandler of the Mount Juliet Police Department and concerns texting and other driving distractions. Read it at:
http://www.tennessean.com/article/20110202/OPINION03/102020398/-1/RSS0201/Safe-driving-requires-full-attention

DUI Treatment Court Newsletter

The DWI Court reporter, which is published by the National Center For DWI Courts, is available on our website or by hitting this link:
http://dui.tndagc.org/resources/The DWI Court Reporter - January.pdf

The newsletter focuses on treatment Courts and includes articles about innovations in treatment courts, legislation and outcomes.

Tuesday, February 1, 2011

Alcoa class


Essential to all law enforcement success in the field of DUI is the DUI Detection and Standardized Field Sobriety Test class. Today in Alcoa law enforcement officers are participating in such a class. This video shows officers in the midst of writing a report or taking a quiz. Officers are challenged concerning their knowledge every time they go to Court. Thank them sometime for their effort on the street and in the classroom.

Walking may be hazardous in Tennessee

In January we lost 50 people in traffic fatalities. 9 of them were pedestrians. That is 18% of our fatalities! No wonder treadmills in gyms are so popular!

NHTSA Reports on Drug Involvement in fatal crashes

Drug Involvement of Fatally Injured Drivers – The issue of Traffic Safety Facts, developed by NHTSA’s National Center for Statistics and Analysis, presents drug test results for fatally injured drivers from 2005 – 2009. It shows that there was an increase in the percentage of fatally injured drivers (who were tested and whose results were known) who tested positive for drugs. According to the report, 63 percent of the 21,798 drivers who were killed in motor vehicle crashes in 2009 were tested for drugs. Of these, 3,952 tested positive for drug involvement, representing 18 percent of the total for that year. The report also showed the presence of drugs reported by the states among fatally injured drivers increasing from 13 percent in 2005, to 18 percent in 2008. It is important to note that the presence of drugs does not necessarily mean that the driver was impaired at the time of the crash or that drug use was the cause of the crash. To see a press release regarding this report, go to: http://www.nhtsa.gov/PR/NHTSA-16-10. To access the report, go to: http://www-nrd.nhtsa.dot.gov/Pubs/811415.pdf.

NHTSA releases review of Drug Per Se Laws

Drug Per Se Laws: A Review of Their Use in the States – This research project sought to determine the extent to which States that have drug per se laws use them, and document any special concerns that arise when making and prosecuting an arrest under a drug per se law. NHTSA was also interested in determining whether these laws are effective in increasing driving under the influence of drugs (DUID) arrests and convictions. The project revealed that for many States, the DUID offense is a component within the State’s existing impaired driving offense and there is no indication in the records whether the arrest is for alcohol or drugs. To view the Traffic Tech for this report, go to:

http://www.nhtsa.gov/staticfiles/traffic_tech/tt393.pdf.