Careless and Prohibited Driving in Arkansas

They are cracking down on hydroplaning in all jurisdictions since "drifting" has become the latest rage with the release of
THE FAST AND THE FURIOUS : TOKYO DRIFT
http://www.thefastandthefurious.com/

Your husband needs to show up on his court date. If the officer is not there, he can request that the charges be dismissed. If the officer is there, try to negotiate for a non-moving "faulty equipment" ticket. If that does not work, hire an attorney.

I know this thread is a few months old. I just wanted to post something that seems to be rather humorous in relation.

Charges will not be filed in Lewellen case

By TAMARA JOHNSON

Managing Editor

Charges will not be filed against a former state senator whose wrecked vehicle was found abandoned along Interstate 40 near Forrest City almost a year ago.

In a letter to Arkansas State Police, Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Chris Morledge said the state is unable to meet the elements required to sustain any charges in the case involving Roy C. "Bill" Lewellen of Marianna.

In the four-page letter to investigating officer Franklin McMillion, Morledge said he and Prosecutor Fletcher Long decided, after analyzing three possible charges in the case, that the state "cannot sustain the elements of any of the charges."

On Feb. 27 last year, state police were called to the one-vehicle accident where the trooper found the 2003 Hyundai Elantra overturned just before 9 p.m., but no driver or witnesses. Inside the car, the trooper found blood on the driver and passenger side doors, two unopened bottles of wine, legal documents in the Lake View case and paperwork indicating Lewellen had rented the vehicle from U-Save Auto Rental. He later purchased the vehicle, which had been totaled, from the rental company.

According to Morledge's letter, Lewellen's former driver went to ASP headquarters shortly after the accident, claiming to have been driving the vehicle. However, when he was questioned by McMillion about the wreck and after having been advised of the consequences of filing a false police report, the man changed his story and admitted he was not driving the vehicle.

Lewellen visited ASP headquarters the day after the accident, but left before being interviewed.

Morledge said he and Long met about the case last week after the Crime Lab returned its report on the blood samples taken from inside the car and each of the five the judges in the First Judicial District recused themselves from the case. Prosecutors would have needed a circuit judge to sign an order requiring Lewellen to submit his DNA for comparison with the state crime lab report.

According to the letter, before seeking a special judge in the case, the prosecutors considered charges of driving while intoxicated, careless and prohibited driving and leaving the scene of an accident.

State law requires a defendant in a DWI case to be tested for alcohol concentration within four hours of the alleged offense. Because Lewellen was not at the accident scene, the test could not be performed. Therefore, the DWI charge could not withstand a court challenge because it was over 24 hours after the accident when he went to ASP headquarters.

As for leaving the scene of an accident, state law requires the driver to give his name and other information to the other driver in an accident. Because this was a one-vehicle accident, Morledge said, "Mr. Lewellen was not required to give notice to himself pursuant to the requirements."

On the careless and prohibited driving charge, "The state would be required to prove that Mr. Lewellen was in fact driving the vehicle. Absent a direct admission, which has not been yielded by the investigation...the state has no way to prove that Mr. Lewellen was driving the vehicle.

"The state can't prove any of the necessary elements in any of the charges," Morledge said, adding that the case is closed.