Source: https://www.morelaw.com/verdicts/case.asp?n=E2018-00384-CCA-R3-CD%0A&s=TN&d=125588
Timestamp: 2019-04-24 09:58:57+00:00

Document:
Re: State of Tennessee v. Thomas Huey Liles, Jr.
State of Tennessee v. Thomas Huey Liles, Jr.
Judge: James Curwood Witt, Jr.
The Sevier County Grand Jury charged the defendant, Thomas Huey Liles, Jr., with one count each of reckless endangerment involving a deadly weapon, second offense DUI, driving on a revoked license with DUI convictions, and violation of financial responsibility laws. The defendant pleaded guilty to the driving on a revoked license and financial responsibility charges, and those convictions are not at issue in this appeal.
Officer Armstrong arrested the defendant for DUI and obtained the defendant’s written consent for a blood alcohol test. Another officer transported the defendant to LeConte Medical Center where the blood draw was performed.
On cross-examination, Officer Armstrong explained that, in demonstrating to the defendant how to do the one-leg stand test, he crossed his hands across his chest for his own protection. Officer Armstrong acknowledged that he placed his foot down early in demonstrating the test, which is a clue of intoxication if a subject does so, but stated that he was not intoxicated while demonstrating the test. Officer Armstrong testified that he contacted Deputy Jason Lewis, a drug recognition expert with the Sevier County Sheriff’s Office, to “advise him what was going on,” not because he wanted a second opinion on the defendant’s level of impairment. Officer Armstrong “believe[d] the defendant to be impaired . . . off of alcohol as well as drugs” and knew that Deputy Lewis could conduct drug recognition testing on the defendant. Officer Armstrong acknowledged that in administering the walk-and-turn test, there was no visible line, and he agreed that his “imaginary line didn’t match up with [the defendant’s] imaginary line.” He did not ask the defendant his level of education but did confirmthat he could count to 30 and say the alphabet.
On redirect examination, Officer Armstrong testified that, due to “time [and] officer safety,” officers do not demonstrate the field sobriety tests in their entirety. He explained that he determined that the defendant was impaired and arrested him prior to contacting Deputy Lewis. The defendant did not have visible injuries when Officer Armstrong encountered him. Officer Armstrong reiterated that he “did not believe that there was any medical emergency” and that if there had been one, he would have ceased the criminal investigation and called for medical assistance. He testified that the defendant’s behavior was inconsistent witha person who had had only one beer.
During recross-examination, Officer Armstrong testified that he makes observations during field sobriety tests that help him “articulate why [he] believe[s] there is impairment present.” He explained that he was trained to not demonstrate the tests in their entirety for officer safety and time constraints. Two other officers were present during Officer Armstrong’s DUI investigation; one officer was working the accident investigation and the other was acting as Officer Armstrong’s “cover officer” focusing primarily on traffic management. Officer Armstrong testified that he demonstrated how to turn during the walk-and-turn test, but the defendant did not complete the turn as demonstrated.
defendant “started falling asleep and he would jerk his head back up.” The defendant kept “asking the same questions over and over” and “said that he was [the] driver” but that the vehicle in front of him “stopped suddenly and he couldn’t react . . . [and] he ended up hitting her.” The jury watched a portion of a video recording of Lieutenant Cowan’s interaction with the defendant during the ride to the hospital.
At the emergency room, the defendant “was kind of slumped over the door, propping himself on the door.” Lieutenant Cowan testified that, while waiting for the blood draw at the hospital, the defendant told her “that he was just tired, he had had a long day, but he kept giving different stories and none of them added up time-wise.” Lieutenant Cowan observed the defendant’s blood being drawn by an employee at LeConte Medical Center. She then delivered the blood sample to the “evidence lockers for the evidence custodian,”who, in turn, transported the sample to the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation (“TBI”)for testing.
During redirect examination, Deputy Lewis explained that he did not cease his evaluation of the defendant after the defendant estimated 30 seconds in an acceptable time because “[t]hese tests are not based on a single test. It’s a totality of the circumstances.” He stated that, when performing the sobriety tests, the defendant “followed instructions as best as he could” and that he allows subjects to perform a test more than once if they misunderstand the instructions.
TBI Agent and Forensic Scientist Regina Aksanov, who was certified as an expert in toxicology, testified that “every [blood] sample that comes into the unit first gets an alcohol test.” If a sample tests “below a .08, then that blood sample will go on further for drug testing.” In this case, Agent Aksanov “performed the alcohol test and one of the drug tests” on the defendant’s blood sample and determined that the defendant’s blood contained “0.056 gram percent of ethyl alcohol” and “Alprazolam at 76 nanograms per milliliter.” Agent Aksanov testified that a blood alcohol concentration of .056 “isn’t incredibly high” but stated that “alcohol even at low levels can cause a degree of impairment to people” including impairment of vision. She acknowledged that the defendant’s blood alcohol level was lower than Tennessee’s .08 legal limit. Agent Aksanov testified that Alprazolam, also known as Xanax, “is also a central nervous system depressant so it’s going to have the similar side effects that alcohol would because they’re both doing the same thing to the body.” Although the amount of Alprazolam in the defendant’s blood was within the therapeutic range, it could nonetheless “cause side effects” including “drowsiness, lethargy, slurred speech, inability to concentrate well or make decisions, [and] inability to multitask well.” Agent Aksanov explained that the presence of two central nervous system depressants together would “have additive effects” enhancing the side effects.
During cross-examination, Agent Aksanov testified that Alprazolam’s halflife in a person’s blood is, “anywhere from six to  hours; on average, about  hours,”and its side effects may endure the entire time the drug is in one’s system.
On cross-examination, Ms. Mingie testified that she was riding in the bed of the pickup “closer towards the tailgate.” The sedan was behind the defendant’s pickup, and the minivan was behind the sedan. Ms. Mingie reiterated that the drivers of both the sedan and the minivan were on their cellular telephones “and the lady in the sedan gave the lady in the minivan a thumbs up.” The driver of the minivan then “whipped it” around to the front of the pickup and stopped. Ms. Mingie testified that the sedan did not hit the pickup, but the driver of the sedan “sat back there and laughed.” She explained that she first told the police that she had been driving the pickup because she did not want the defendant to get in trouble.
We were driving down Dolly Parton Parkway. We were almost right in front of the Hardee’s and, there was a van that came around us and she got over in front of us. There was no vehicles in front of her. She slammed -- I mean, just immediately slammed on her brakes, and we went right into her.
Ms. Hipshire stated that she did not observe the defendant do anything reckless.
On cross-examination, Ms. Hipshire testified that she noticed the minivan driving behind the pickup from seeing it in the mirrors and “saw it come up beside us.” The defendant was driving in the right-hand lane and the minivan passed them “from the left side.” Ms. Hipshire recalled that she, the defendant, Ms. Mingie, the defendant’s nephew, and another friend were riding in the pickup at the time of the accident. After the accident, Ms. Hipshire checked on the passengers in the minivan, but they would not speak with her until the police arrived.
The jury found the defendant guilty of DUI but not guilty of reckless endangerment with a deadly weapon. The jury did not reach a consensus on the lesserincluded charge of reckless endangerment, and the State dismissed that charge. The parties stipulated that the defendant had previously been convicted of DUI and that the present conviction was for a second offense DUI. The trial court imposed a sentence of 11 months and 29 days to be served in split confinement.
In this timely appeal, the defendant contends that the defendant’s blood alcohol and toxicology reports were obtained via a statute deemed unconstitutional by this court. The State argues that the defendant waived plenary review of the issue by failing to raise it prior to trial and that, in any event, a recent decision by our supreme court undercuts the merits of the defendant’s argument. We agree that, any waiver notwithstanding, the defendant’s claim is without merit.
In State v. Rosemary Decosimo, this court examined the fee system in Code section 55-10-413(f) and concluded that it violated principles of due process. State v. Rosemary Decosimo, No. E2017-00696-CCA-R3-CD, slip op. at 27 (Tenn. Crim. App., Knoxville, Feb. 6, 2018), overruled by State v. Decosimo, 555 S.W.3d 494 (Tenn. 2018), petition for cert. filed, (U.S. Oct. 31, 2018). We held that even though TBI forensic scientists did not qualify as judicial or quasi-judicial officers under the test originally established in Tumey v. Ohio, 273 U.S. 510, 522 (1927), see Rosemary Decosimo, slip op. at 22, an “inherent conflict” existed “between the requirement that a forensic scientist be neutral and objective and Code section 55-10-413, which deposits the monies received from” forensic blood testing for the presence of drugs and alcohol “directly to the TBI, rather than the State general fund,” id., slip op. at 23. We observed that Code section 5510-413(f) “create[d] a mechanism whereby the TBI forensic scientists have a pecuniary interest in BADT fees in the form of continued employment, salaries, equipment, and training within the TBI,” and that this mechanism “calls into question the trustworthiness of the TBI forensic scientists’ test results.” Id., slip op. at 28.
Outcome: Given our supreme court’s decision in Decosimo, the defendant cannot prevail upon the merits of his claim in this case. Accordingly, we affirm the judgment of the trial court.

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