48 YEAR Putnam County Sentence Affirmed

Bobby England was sentenced to 48 years in prison for two aggravated vehicular homicides committed March 14, 2008. His consecutive sentences of 24 years were affirmed by the Court of Criminal Appeals. His history include 5 DUI convictions, two felony convictions, failed attempts at supervision and the fact that he was on probation when he committed the offense.
The defense argued the sentence should have been less, because the two killed were passengers of the defendant. The Court refused to create a law that would de-value the lives of passengers. Kudos to ADA Gary McKenzie and General Randy York for their efforts.
Read the case at:

http://www.tsc.state.tn.us/OPINIONS/TCCA/PDF/102/State%20vs%20Bobby%20Dwaine%20England.pdf

Undearage Alcohol Sales

In Dickson County, Tennessee a sting operation revealed that the Wet Bar, Sir Pizza, Logan's Roadhouse, GreyStone Golf Club, Camino Real, East End Liquors, White Bluff Wine and Spirits, Scottish Shield Liquors and West End Liquors would sell alcohol to minors. The employees who sold face misdemeanor charges. The businesses will face fines or a suspension of their liquor license.
In the linked article below an employee claims he was distracted by another agent, so he did not check the i.d. of the buyer. I guess in that world, stores can only have one customer at a time.

Read about it: http://www.tennessean.com/article/20100624/DICKSON01/100624053/1991/DICKSON01/10+local+businesses+cited+in+liquor+sale+sting

5 year old vehicular homicide ends with 15 year plea

In Chattanooga, Herineldo Cintron, 47, pled guilty and received a 15 year sentence. Years of delay resulted from the defendant claiming incompetence to stand trial. While out on bond Citron was accused of killing another person while beating him with the walker he used due to injuries sustained in the fatal wreck. The murder case is still pending.
Cintron ran into and over a passenger on a motorcycle stopped at a light. He had a .21 BAC and cocaine in his system. He was speeding and driving like he owned the road.
The victim's husband, who was also injured in the crash, was relieved and happy with the plea. ADA Brian Finley fought the hard fight through years of delay and did a great job of keeping the family informed along the way. He deserves appreciation for a job well done. Please keep the deceased victim, Deborah Kenyon and her husband, Donald, in your thoughts and prayers.



Read the full story at:
http://www.chattanoogan.com/articles/article_178814.asp

New laws are now Public Chapters

The four laws that were promoted by the District Attorneys General Legislative Committee are now all in Public Chapters. None of them are exactly as proposed by the Committee, but pretty close. The links to each are below. The laws:

PC 1080: The counting of priors goes to current offense with a 10 year and 20 year look back for prior offenses. Effective July 1, 2010.
PC 1096: The determination of an implied consent violation can now be made in Sessions Court. Effective January 1, 2011
PC 867: Multiple offenders and repeat offenders shall recieve more srutiny in bond determinations. Effective January 1, 2011
PC 1015: Redefines 55-10-401. Adds and removes language to permit conviction for driving under influence of additional impairing substances and drugs. Effective January 1, 2011

http://state.tn.us/sos/acts/106/pub/pc1015.pdf
http://state.tn.us/sos/acts/106/pub/pc0867.pdf
http://state.tn.us/sos/acts/106/pub/pc1096.pdf
http://state.tn.us/sos/acts/106/pub/pc1080.pdf

Significant new DUI opinion

This week Judge Ogle in an opinion in which Judge Tipton and Witt concurred issued an opinion affecting two significant areas of law. The defense attempted to suppress the "traffic stop", which was based on a community caretaking function. The defense also tried to supress the breath test result, because they could not examine the computer source codes of the breath testing instrument. Each position was rejected in this case. It is an opinion prosecutors and officers should read and keep in mind in future cases.
I have never figured out how the source code issue could ever be examined. If the defense read the source code, which is represented in computer language that looks like numerous number 1's, they would use a computer to read it. Would that mean the State would be entitled to the source code for the Microsoft program used by the defense? And then would the defense get the source code for the program used by the State to read it's review? Sounds like an endless loop. The case would then be heard in 2017. Of course, that might be the whole goal of the defense request for the source code.
Read the case at:

http://www.tsc.state.tn.us/OPINIONS/TCCA/PDF/102/State%20vs%20Elizabeth%20Gay%20Tindell.pdf

Woman Arrested 207 Times Pleads Guilty To DUI Charges

In Gallatin today, Rhonda Hesler, 42, pled guilty to 2 counts of DUI. According to the article below, her record was 130 pages long. I wonder if it fit into one of those General Session Court file envelopes.

Read about it at: http://www.newschannel5.com/Global/story.asp?S=12693342

Vehicular Homicide plea

Tina Gail Strickland of Johnson City pled guilty to vehicular homicide in Carter County today. Sentencing is scheduled for July 13.
Trooper Jacob Stielow investigated the crash August 3, 2009. The defendant was at a residence drinking and had a minor accident. The homeowner attempted to stop her from driving. She ran into and killed Opal McGhee. The defendant had a BAC of .20.

Read more at: http://www.johnsoncitypress.com/News/article.php?ID=78042