Rehearing Denied December 4, 2019
Page 370
APPEAL
FROM THE SALINE COUNTY CIRCUIT COURT [NO. 63CR-17-637],
HONORABLE BARBARA WEBB, JUDGE
Hancock
Law Firm, Little Rock, by: Charles D. Hancock, for appellant.
Leslie
Rutledge, Atty Gen., by: Chris R. Warthen, Asst Atty Gen.,
for appellee.
OPINION
KENNETH
S. HIXSON, Judge
Appellant Stephanie Cordero appeals after she was convicted
by the Saline County Circuit Court of driving while
intoxicated (DWI) after a bench trial. She was sentenced to
five days in the Saline County Jail and a $1000 fine. On
appeal,
Page 371
appellants sole argument is that there was insufficient
evidence to convict her of DWI. We affirm.
I.
Relevant Facts
Appellant
was driving home after shopping in Saline County the
afternoon of November 9, 2016. After appellant admittedly ran
a red light, a private citizen forced her to pull over by
blocking her on the road until law enforcement could respond.
After law enforcement arrived and observed her behavior at
the scene, she was arrested and charged with DWI in violation
of Arkansas Code Annotated section 5-65-103(a)(1) (Repl.
2016). After appellant was found guilty by the Saline County
District Court, she appealed to circuit court. The circuit
court held a bench trial on September 27, 2018.
At
trial, Sergeant Hanley Taylor testified that he was the first
to respond to the scene. He noticed that appellant was really
disoriented, her eyes were glossy, and her speech was broken.
Because he did not smell any odor of alcohol, he requested
the assistance of a drug recognition expert (DRE). Officer
Michael McClain, a trained DRE, responded.
Officer McClain testified that he observed that appellants
speech was slurred, her eyes were glazed over and watery, and
her movements were slow and sluggish. After conducting
field-sobriety tests at the scene, Officer McClain opined
that appellant was under the influence and unable to operate
her motor vehicle safely. He testified that although he
initially allowed appellant to see if she could obtain a ride
home, when she was unable to do so, he took her into custody.
A video of appellants transport to the Saline County
Sheriffs Office was admitted into evidence.
McClain
testified that while at the Saline County Sheriffs Office,
appellant consented to a twelve-step drug-influence
evaluation. During the evaluation, appellant admitted to
Officer McClain that she had been prescribed Flexeril,
Lorazepam, Zofran, and Fioricet. Appellant told the officer
that she had a bad migraine headache the night before and
that she had taken Fioricet around midnight. Appellant then
stated that when she awoke the following morning, she still
had a migraine headache and that around 8:00 a.m. she took
two additional Fioricet pills. Further, appellant stated that
in addition to the two Fioricet pills she took that morning,
she had also taken four over-the-counter pseudoephedrine
pills for sinus issues. McClain testified that later in the
evaluation, appellant changed her story and stated that she
did not remember whether she took Fioricet that morning.
Officer McClain stated that appellant continued to exhibit
...