Short jury trial ends in DUI conviction, $2,500 fine

Nov. 13—Kenneth Paul Ford's attorney told a Cumberland County jury Ford was innocent because there was no evidence he was driving on Aug. 21, 2022, when he was arrested. Ford told a Tennessee Highway Patrol trooper he couldn't do a counting test because he has dyslexia.

The jury of eight women and four men Thursday didn't believe either claim.

It took the jury less than 20 minutes to return to court with a guilty verdict to driving under the influence and driving under the influence, per se. The panel assessed a $2,500 fine on each count but the fine and convictions were merged into one.

Assistant District Attorneys Rachel Bateman and Allison Null relied on two witnesses — arresting Trooper Donald Seiber and TBI forensic scientist and toxicologist Sara Douglas — to prove the charges.

Defense attorney Bradford Wood of Cookeville called one witness, Ford's roommate, in an effort to place doubt in the jurors' minds on whether his client was driving on the night of his arrest.

Seiber testified he was parked on the side of Hwy. 70 E. in the area of the Sunoco station facing west when he observed a Hyundai van traveling east, turn its lights off and then back on and turn into the gas station parking lot. He saw a woman exit the vehicle and throw up in a trash can.

Seiber said he then drove into the parking lot to do a welfare check on the female and observed Ford sitting in the driver's side. They were the only two persons in the vehicle, Seiber testified.

He exited the patrol car and actions that followed were recorded on the officers body camera. That excerpt was played for the jury to watch.

Seiber testified he smelled alcohol on Ford's person and that the defendant appears to him to have blood-shot eyes, slurred speech, was lethargic and had balance issues.

Seiber asked Ford about the headlights and Ford responded the vehicle belonged to the female passenger and he was unfamiliar with the controls. The trooper decided at that point to administer a series of field sobriety tests requiring multi-tasking.

The video showed Ford failing a finger counting test and his refusal to recite sections of the alphabet. "He failed miserably," Seiber testified about the counting test. Ford admitted to having "three drinks" over several hours prior to his arrest.

Ford was taken to Cumberland Medical Center for a blood alcohol test but Ford declined a breath test and blood alcohol test even though he was advised it was a violation to do so.

To refuse a blood alcohol or breathalyzer test is a civil offense and not a criminal offense and can result in a suspension of driving privileges.

Seiber then obtained a search warrant for a blood draw that he testified he sent to the TBI lab.

Douglas testified she had conducted over 9,000 tests on blood samples for alcohol and over 2,500 for drugs. Tests for alcohol and drugs are done separately and not from the same samples.

Douglas testified she found a .123 percent blood alcohol result with .08 being considered too intoxicated to drive in Tennessee.

The state rested its case and Lewis Ray Rector was the only witness called by the defense. Prior to his taking the stand, Judge Shawn Fry ruled Rector's criminal history of two robbery convictions could be used by the state to attack the credibility of his testimony because those convictions fell within a ten-year time period framed by state law.

Rector testified he slept or "laid around the house" most of Aug. 20 and then drove Ford and his female friend to a Crossville bar located on Hwy. 70 E. where the three stayed for a few hours.

Around 1 a.m., he started driving his roommate and the female east on Hwy. 70 E. But had a confrontation with the female, who he testified, "was already wasted." He said he became fed up with the woman, pulled into the station parking lot, dropped the keys in a cup holder in the console and got out of the vehicle to walk back to the bar.

Rector testified he was the driver and never saw the trooper.

Bateman argued the state had proven the three elements of driving under the influence while Wood countered the only question for the jury was who was the driver.

The jury left the courtroom at 2:05 p.m. to begin deliberations and indicated a verdict at around 2:25 p.m.

The jury was dismissed and since the charge is a misdemeanor, Judge Fry suggested a sentencing hearing be held at that time.

Bateman told the judge the lack of a criminal history caused the state to accept the routine sentence of 48 hours in jail, supervised probation for 11 months and 29 days, loss of driving privileges for one year alcohol and drug assessment and followup and impact panel participation would be the correct sentence.

A restrictive license was applied for which includes an ignition interlock device for the one year.

Wood agreed on behalf of his client and probation is to be transferred to Putnam County where Ford now resides. The $2,500 fine remains in effect.

Heather Mullinix is editor of the Crossville Chronicle. She covers schools and education in Cumberland County. She may be reached at hmullinix@crossville-chronicle.com.