State of Tennessee v. Kimberly Ann Lennon

CourtCourt of Criminal Appeals of Tennessee
DecidedJune 9, 2020
DocketW2019-01008-CCA-R3-CD
StatusPublished

This text of State of Tennessee v. Kimberly Ann Lennon (State of Tennessee v. Kimberly Ann Lennon) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Criminal Appeals of Tennessee primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
State of Tennessee v. Kimberly Ann Lennon, (Tenn. Ct. App. 2020).

Opinion

06/09/2020 IN THE COURT OF CRIMINAL APPEALS OF TENNESSEE AT JACKSON Assigned on Briefs April 7, 2020

STATE OF TENNESSEE v. KIMBERLY ANN LENNON

Appeal from the Circuit Court for Henderson County No. 18121-3 Kyle Atkins, Judge

No. W2019-01008-CCA-R3-CD

The Defendant, Kimberly Ann Lennon, was convicted by a Henderson County Circuit Court Jury of driving under the influence, a Class A misdemeanor. See T.C.A. § 55-10- 401 (2017). The trial court sentenced her to eleven months and twenty-nine days at 75% service, to be served on probation, supervised by the community corrections program, after two days’ jail service. On appeal, the Defendant contends that the evidence is insufficient to support her conviction. We affirm the judgment of the trial court, and we remand the case for correction of a clerical error on the judgment form.

Tenn. R. App. P. 3 Appeal as of Right; Judgment of the Circuit Court Affirmed; Case Remanded

ROBERT H. MONTGOMERY, JR., J., delivered the opinion of the court, in which CAMILLE R. MCMULLEN and ROBERT L. HOLLOWAY, JR., JJ., joined.

George Morton Googe, District Public Defender; Brennan M. Wingerter (on appeal), Assistant Public Defender – Appellate Division; and Kandi Kelley Collins (at trial), Assistant District Public Defender, for the Appellant, Kimberly Ann Lennon.

Herbert H. Slatery III, Attorney General and Reporter; Brent C. Cherry, Senior Assistant Attorney General; Jody Pickens, District Attorney General; Eric Wood, Assistant District Attorney General, for the appellee, State of Tennessee.

OPINION

The Defendant’s conviction relates to events surrounding an automobile collision in which she was not the at-fault driver.

At the trial, Tennessee Highway Patrol Trooper Joshua Potts testified that his training included Advanced Roadside Impaired Driving Enforcement, which “teaches you to detect impairment other than alcohol.” He said he was an instructor for this program, as well. He said he was, at the time of the trial, a certified field sobriety task instructor and a certified drug recognition expert, but he acknowledged he did not hold these certifications at the time he arrested the Defendant. In addition, his initial training involved investigation of alcohol- and drug-related offenses.

Trooper Potts testified that on December 3, 2017, he was dispatched to the scene of a two-car wreck around 3:06 a.m. and that he arrived around 3:47 a.m. He said a deputy was already at the scene and had spoken with the drivers of both cars. Trooper Potts said he spoke with the deputy to obtain a “brief rundown.” Trooper Potts said the driver other than the Defendant “basically admitted” she ran a stop sign and “ran out in front of” the Defendant. He said the Defendant’s SUV had minor damage to the front driver’s side and that the other car had damage on the rear driver’s side. He said that both cars were drivable and that no injuries were reported.

Trooper Potts said he first made contact with the Defendant when she was seated in her SUV. He said the weather was cool. He said he asked the Defendant to get out of the SUV and that she stepped away from the SUV. He said he smelled alcohol, that he asked her about the wreck, and that he asked her how much alcohol she had drunk. He said that she initially denied drinking alcohol but that later she admitted drinking alcohol.

Trooper Potts testified that when he made contact with an individual, he looked immediately for indicators of impairment. He said that in addition to noticing the odor of alcohol when he spoke with the Defendant, he smelled marijuana when she got out of the SUV. He said she denied smoking marijuana. He thought she stated her passenger had smoked marijuana and had drunk alcohol. He said the Defendant’s eyes were bloodshot and watery and that her speech was “slurred somewhat.” When asked if her bloodshot, watery eyes could have been attributed to the time of 3:00 a.m. and her being tired, he said, “Could have been anything.” He characterized her as cooperative. He said she spoke rapidly, loudly, and was “very talkative.” He said, “I think that’s her personality.” He said the Defendant told him that she had taken prescription medication about 10:00 a.m.

Trooper Potts testified that his patrol car was equipped with a dashboard camera. He identified a video recording of his encounter with the Defendant. The video recording was played for the jury.1 In the recording, an officer relays the facts of the wreck to

1 The record reflects that the original video recording had been redacted. The court asked before the recording was played. “Does it have the parts taken out that were taken out?” Defense counsel responded, “He’s going to stop and start.” The exhibit which has been provided to this court is marked “Unredacted.” The record contains an order, denoting that it was entered by agreement, excluding evidence of the horizontal gaze nystagmus test. No order or hearing transcript directly addresses -2- Trooper Potts and states, “I think she has been drinking a little.” The Defendant gets out of her SUV, stands by the open driver’s door, and appears to search for something on the driver’s seat of her SUV. Trooper Potts approaches the Defendant, and they converse standing outside her SUV.2 He asks her if she has been drinking, and she says she has not. He asks if anyone in the SUV has been drinking, and she points inside the SUV to the passenger and says, “Him.” Trooper Potts asks if the Defendant is hurt, and she says she is not but that she is “shook up a little bit.” Trooper Potts steps away to speak to the other officer, and the Defendant walks to the back passenger side of her SUV and retrieves and puts on a jacket. Trooper Potts advises the other officer that he plans to have the Defendant perform field sobriety tests. Trooper Potts approaches the Defendant and asks her if she has any medical issues, to which she responds that she takes medication and that she has spinal stenosis, disc disease, and back problems. She states she does not work and is disabled. She states that she cannot stand, walk, or lift more than five pounds. When Trooper Potts states that she seems to walk without difficulty, she states that she “just had a shot from the doctor two days ago.” She says she last took medication “this morning, ten o’clock.” She denies that she has consumed any alcohol. Trooper Potts instructs the Defendant in the walk-and-turn test, and she states, “I probably am not going to be able to do it.” The Defendant is unable to complete the test without raising her arms, contrary to Trooper Potts’s instructions to keep her hands at her sides. She protests that her leg is going to “give out.” After completing the turn, she briefly loses her footing. At one point, the Defendant stops the test, turns to talk to Trooper Potts, then turns and resumes the test. The Defendant acknowledges that her performance was “awful,” and Trooper Potts agrees. Trooper Potts administers the one- leg stand test, and the Defendant is able to attempt the test for eighteen of the required thirty seconds. The Defendant’s side faces the camera, and the arm on the side that is visible in the recording is partially raised, rather than at her side per Trooper Potts’s instructions. Trooper Potts administers the finger-to-nose test, and the Defendant is able to complete the test. Trooper Potts asks the Defendant to rate her level of intoxication on a scale of zero to ten, and her response is unintelligible. He states that it is obvious she has been drinking alcohol. She states she takes her medication as prescribed but that her alcohol intoxication level was zero. She states that her passenger is intoxicated.

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State v. Vasques
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State v. Sutton
166 S.W.3d 686 (Tennessee Supreme Court, 2005)
State v. Binette
33 S.W.3d 215 (Tennessee Supreme Court, 2000)
State v. Hall
976 S.W.2d 121 (Tennessee Supreme Court, 1998)
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958 S.W.2d 651 (Tennessee Supreme Court, 1997)
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Bluebook (online)
State of Tennessee v. Kimberly Ann Lennon, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-of-tennessee-v-kimberly-ann-lennon-tenncrimapp-2020.