State v. Horton
| Decision Date | 03 March 2004 |
| Docket Number | No. 3787.,3787. |
| Citation | 359 S.C. 555,598 S.E.2d 279 |
| Parties | The STATE, Respondent, v. Christopher Clarke HORTON, Appellant. |
| Court | South Carolina Court of Appeals |
William G. Rhoden, of Gaffney, for Appellant.
Attorney General Henry Dargan McMaster, Chief Deputy Attorney General John W. McIntosh, Assistant Deputy Attorney General Charles H. Richardson, Senior Assistant Attorney General Harold M. Coombs, Jr., all of Columbia; and Solicitor Harold W. Gowdy, III, of Spartanburg, for Respondent.
Christopher Clarke Horton was indicted for felony driving under the influence causing death (felony DUI) and reckless homicide. The jury returned a verdict of guilty of reckless homicide and not guilty of felony DUI. The trial judge sentenced Horton to ten years imprisonment. We affirm.1
On September 26, 2001, Gregory Thomas, fourteen years old, was struck and killed while walking with his family. Horton was driving the vehicle that struck Thomas.
At trial, the State presented the testimony of Suzie Thomas (Gregory's mother) and Geoffrey Thomas (Gregory's nineteen-year-old brother). Suzie stated that she, Gregory, and Geoffrey were walking down the left-hand side of a road near their home shortly after 6:30 p.m. Suzie professed that, as they saw a green car approaching, the three crossed the road. According to Suzie, even though all three of them looked both ways before crossing, Gregory was struck by a white car that was coming down the road "very fast." Suzie stated that, when she "looked to go across the road," she did not see the white car. Suzie and Geoffrey "made it to the side of the ... road." Suzie said Gregory was "almost on the side of the road on the grass, but he had not made it to the side of the road." Suzie declared:
And when I saw the car coming, I screamed And as I said that, Gregory's right leg went up like he was going to step on the grass. And when he did that, the car hit him and he flew up.
After striking Gregory, the white car proceeded down the street for approximately 275 feet. When Horton stopped and exited the vehicle, Suzie asked: "`Why did you hit my son?'" Horton responded: "`[B]ecause he wouldn't get out of my way.'"
On cross-examination, Suzie admitted she did not "tell any of the police officers about" the green car. When queried as to whether she told the officers about Horton's statement that her "son wouldn't get out of the way," Suzie answered: Suzie acknowledged she did not see Horton's car until it hit Gregory. The following colloquy occurred on cross-examination:
Geoffrey corroborated Suzie's testimony regarding the facts leading up to the accident. Geoffrey testified he did not see the white car when they began to cross the road and did not "hear any brakes" or see any skid marks after the accident. Geoffrey did not testify that Horton made a statement after exiting the white car.
Officer David H. Burgess, with the South Carolina Highway Patrol, was the responding officer. Officer Burgess testified that, upon reaching the accident scene, he noticed there were no skid marks on the road. While sitting beside Horton in his patrol vehicle, Officer Burgess detected "an odor of alcohol." Although the officer did not perform any field sobriety tests and noted that Horton did not slur his speech or stagger, he opined that Horton was under the influence. Officer Burgess stated that Horton's attitude after the accident was unusual, commenting that Horton was "unemotional." The officer admitted he did not know "anything about [a] green car" until the day of trial.
Horton was given a Datamaster test at the Spartanburg County Detention Center. Horton registered a 0.03. Highway Patrol Officer Russell Joye, who administered the test, testified Horton was cooperative, and that he did not smell an odor of alcohol on Horton's person. After the Datamaster test, Officer Joye drove Horton to the hospital for a urine test. Horton signed an implied consent form before a urine sample was collected. On direct examination, Sue Mobley, a nurse at the hospital who participated in the urine test, was asked if she smelled any alcohol on Horton. Mobley answered: "A slight smell."
Robert Michael Sears, a forensic toxicologist with SLED, later analyzed the urine sample. The results of the urine test indicated the presence of a tetrahydrocannabinol metabolite, hydrocodone, dihydrocodeine, and benzoylecgonine. Tetrahydrocannabinol, more commonly known as THC, is the "pharmacologically active component of marijuana." Hydrocodone and dihydrocodeine are opiates. Benzoylecgonine is a "major metabolite" of cocaine. A blood test was not performed. Sears declared that "what [he] found in the urine test, plus the alcohol that was in [Horton's] system," would "affect a person's ability to drive." According to Sears, urine tests show "a history of use," but "not necessarily [the] presence of drugs in the blood." On cross-examination, defense counsel posited the following question to Sears: "So without the blood test, we don't know whether or not Mr. Horton was under the effects of those drugs at the time of this accident, do we?" Sears answered: "That's correct." The following exchange occurred between defense counsel and Dr. David H. Eagerton, chief toxicologist at SLED:
Horton presented the testimony of Alison Cocoros, the chief investigator for the Spartanburg County Coroner's Office. Cocoros observed Horton at the accident scene. When asked by defense counsel if she "smell[ed] any odor of alcohol on Mr. Horton that evening when [she] talked to him," Cocoros answered in the affirmative. However, when queried regarding whether Horton appeared to be impaired, she responded: "No, sir."
Cocoros spoke with Suzie and Geoffrey at the hospital on the night of the accident. She declared that neither Suzie nor Geoffrey mentioned a green car "coming in the opposite direction" or any statement made by Horton after the accident. Cocoros stated that Suzie and Geoffrey told her the following when explaining the events leading up to the accident:
When I asked them what had happened, ... [t]hey stated that they walked around the curve on Casey Creek Road, that the son Geoffrey and Ms. Thomas crossed to the right-hand shoulder. Gregory was in the middle of the left-hand lane. They said that they heard a car behind them. They started telling Gregory to get out of the road. Instead of crossing to the left this way, he crossed to the right towards them on this side of the road and a car came around the curve and hit him.
Kristin Rodgers was Horton's passenger on the night of the accident. She testified in his defense. Rodgers stated Horton had two beers at dinner and did not have any problems operating his car. Rodgers discussed the accident:
We are going down the road. We starting to go around a curve and there is three people walking in the middle of the road, and [Horton] slowed down. A lady and a boy went to the right side of the road and another boy went to the left side of the road to let us through. So we starting to go through them and as we are starting to go through them, the boy from the left side of the road runs back on the right side of the road and that's when we hit him.... [I]t all happened in a matter of seconds.
Horton's testimony corroborated that of his passenger. He affirmed that he had two beers with dinner, but had drunk no other alcohol that day. Horton denied taking any drugs on the day of the accident. However, he admitted to smoking marijuana and snorting cocaine three days before, and taking a Lortab two days before the accident. Both Horton and Rodgers testified they did not know of anything that Horton could have done to avoid the accident.
At trial, Horton moved to suppress the results of the urine test, arguing improper procedure, an incomplete chain of custody, and the urine test results were more prejudicial than probative under Rule 403, SCRE. The trial judge denied the motion. At the close of the State's case, Horton moved for a directed verdict on the charges of felony DUI and reckless homicide. This motion was denied. After he presented his case, Horton renewed his motion for a directed verdict, which was denied. The jury returned a guilty verdict as to reckless homicide and a not guilty verdict as to felony DUI.
Horton argues the trial judge erred in denying Horton's motion for a directed verdict as to the reckless homicide charge. We disagree.
On appeal from the denial of a directed verdict in a criminal case, an appellate court must view the evidence in the light most favorable to the State. State v. Curtis, 356 S.C. 622, 591 S.E.2d 600 (2004); State v. Al-Amin, 353 S.C. 405...
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