3 more convictions affirmed

The Court of Criminal Appeals has issued 3 more opinions affirming DUI and Vehicular Assault convictions.
The first is State v Pollock can be seen at:
http://www.tncourts.gov/sites/default/files/pollocksteveopn.pdf

Pollock was convicted of vehicular assault. He tried to pass a car in a no passing zone and ran head on into a car severely injuring two people. Pollock had Soma, Methadone, Valium, and Xanax and Meprobamate in his blood. He admitted taking his prescribed dose of methadone.
This case includes an excellent analysis of the testimony of Dr. Tonya Horton, TBI special agent and forensic scientist and is highly recommended for all prosecutors dealing with drugged driving cases. 
Trooper Avery and Investigator Moore also did an outstanding job as did ADA Kelvin McAlpin in this case from Obion County.

The next case is a DUI from Hardin County, State v Hartnest. It can be found at:
http://www.tncourts.gov/sites/default/files/hartnestemmettopn.pdf

In this case the officer suffered a very bad day on the witness stand due to an incomplete and sketchy report. Despite his mediocre report there was enough evidence to sustain the conviciton. The defendant had a blood alcohol level of .13. He was stopped in part due to having a can of been on his back bumper as her drove slowly in Savanah. Trial Judge Creed McGinley commented that if you drive down the road with a beer on the bumper, you will be stopped ten out of ten times. My guess is that this case would have never resulted in a trial, but for the report.

The third new case is State v Barham. It is at:
http://www.tncourts.gov/sites/default/files/barhamrobertopn.pdf

Mr. Barham ran into a work van in a person's driveway. Jerry Morris in Jackson, Tennessee, had been sleeping when he heard the loud bang. He immediately went outside and found the defendant climbing out of the passenger side window. The defendant left and returned in the same clothes about five minutes later. The defendant used the old SODDI defense (Some other dude did it), but wasn't able to convince a single juror that Mr. Morris was wrong about what he saw.