Yates v. Commonwealth
| Decision Date | 27 September 2022 |
| Docket Number | 1243-21-1 |
| Parties | CARRIE ANN YATES v. COMMONWEALTH OF VIRGINIA |
| Court | Virginia Court of Appeals |
FROM THE CIRCUIT COURT OF THE CITY OF WILLIAMSBURG AND COUNTY OF JAMES CITY Holly B. Smith, Judge
Christopher T. Voltin; Goff Voltin, PLLC, on brief, for appellant. Appellant submitting on brief.
Jason S. Miyares, Attorney General; Virginia B. Theisen, Senior Assistant Attorney General, on brief, for appellee.
Present: Judges Humphreys, Athey and Callins
Carrie Ann Yates pleaded guilty to one count of maiming resulting from driving while intoxicated and one count of reckless driving by speed. On appeal, Yates contends that the trial court abused its discretion in imposing an active sentence of ten years and twelve months. After examining the briefs and record, the panel unanimously holds that oral argument is unnecessary because "the appeal is wholly without merit." Code § 17.1-403(ii)(a); Rule 5A:27(a). We affirm the decision of the trial court.
"The evidence is considered in the light most favorable to the Commonwealth, as the prevailing party below." Jacobs v. Commonwealth, 61 Va.App. 529, 535 (2013). On January 6, 2021, Yates and a companion, Frankie, went to a bar in the City of Williamsburg. Yates parted ways with Frankie and then went to a convenience store to purchase alcohol. When the store clerk refused to sell her alcohol, Yates assaulted the clerk and left the store.
At 3:14 p.m., Yates sent a text that said, "look I got in a big argument with Frankie the dude that's normally with me and I left him a [sic] Williamsburg." The text continued, "we're tripping on shrooms and yeah like what the f*** Cliff I don't know I'm by myself right now and I'm in Williamsburg drinking so f****** call me please."
Yates drove her car south on Merrimac Trail. At 3:48 p.m., Yates called Frankie and argued with him. At 3:53 p.m., Leon Givens was in his car, stopped at a traffic light on Penniman Road at its intersection with Merrimac Trail. When the signal turned green, Givens proceeded into the intersection. Yates who was travelling about eighty-two miles per hour, struck the broadside of Givens's car. The collision pushed Givens's car into three other cars at the intersection. Although Givens's legs were still under the steering wheel, the impact "knocked his body into the passenger's side." Emergency responders airlifted Givens to Riverside Regional Hospital, where medical providers determined that he was permanently paralyzed from the neck down.
Initially Yates stated that "someone had hit her out of nowhere." Later, Yates said that "she didn't know what had happened." Emergency responders transported Yates to Riverside Regional Hospital. The police determined that her blood alcohol content was 0.229 at 4:52 p.m. and 0.207 at about 6:00 p.m. Hospital records from 7:13 p.m. reflected that Yates was upset and yelled obscenities at medical staff. On several occasions, Yates exclaimed, "where the fuck is my phone?" When a nurse told Yates that she was being inappropriate, Yates responded "fuck you, dude, try losing your BMW, your cellphone and having a bad day." Hospital staff "had to call a code" after Yates got out of the bed, pulled out her IV and her c-collar, and urinated on the floor. About eight hours after the collision, hospital staff determined that Yates was "still not quite sober enough" to take an MRI.
Yates pleaded guilty to one count of maiming resulting from driving while intoxicated.[1]Yates also stipulated to the sufficiency of the evidence on one count of driving under the influence of alcohol, which was later amended to reckless driving by speed, to which she pleaded guilty. The trial court engaged in a plea colloquy with Yates, during which Yates acknowledged that she faced a maximum sentence of ten years, a $100,000 fine, and a loss of her driver's license for the aggravated DUI maiming charge. The trial court accepted her pleas and found her guilty of both charges.
At the sentencing hearing, the Commonwealth submitted a major violation report drafted by Yates's probation officer. The probation officer asserted that Yates had absconded from supervision and failed to maintain contact for nearly two years. The probation officer also reported that Yates had tested positive for illegal drugs many times between November 2019 and January 2021. During her supervised probation, Yates was admitted into three different recovery programs on four separate occasions.
Winnie Neaves, Givens's mother, testified that she was the last person to talk to him before the accident. The police called Neaves from the scene of the accident and told her about the collision. Neaves went to the hospital and found that Givens was "just blank, unresponsive." The accident severed Givens's ear, which medical providers taped up. As a result of the accident, Givens was paralyzed and on life support. Givens ultimately succumbed to his injuries and passed away. The trial court heard evidence that Givens had worked two jobs to support his wife, daughter, and grandchildren.
Yates testified that she struggled with substance abuse for over twenty years. Yates stated that she did not succeed in her recovery programs and that she was "[j]ust going through the motions." Yates testified that she had a problem with cocaine, but that she is "really not a drinker."
Yates stated that Givens's death greatly impacted her and that "[n]o amount of time will give him back what [she] has taken." She stated that Givens became her "greatest teacher" and that she would use their "story to impact anyone and everyone who crosses [her] path, and [that she would] tell them that one decision can last a lifetime." Yates finally stated that she wanted to be released from incarceration to spend time with and care for her two children and that she wanted to "be sober and live a normal life."
At the conclusion of the evidence, the Commonwealth requested that the trial court sentence Yates to ten years on the maiming charge and twelve months on the reckless driving charge. Yates conceded that some incarceration was appropriate but requested that the trial court suspend a portion of the sentence to "make sure [to] get her the help she needs." During allocution, Yates apologized to Givens's family and said, "if I could take all of this back, I would."
The trial court stated that it reviewed the facts of the case the presentence report, and the victim-impact statements. The trial court stated that it also "listened very carefully to the witnesses," including Yates. The trial court noted that despite Yates having "a good childhood," she amassed a twenty-five-year history of substance abuse, multiple probation violations, and several driving-related offenses. The trial court considered that on the day of the accident, Yates used alcohol and psilocybin to the point of intoxication and assaulted a store clerk who would not sell her alcohol. The trial court also considered Yates's conduct at the hospital, including her belligerence with hospital staff and her decision to urinate on the floor. The trial court discussed Yates's noncompliance with her supervised probation. The trial court believed Yates's testimony was genuine but noted that Yates focused on herself. The trial court stated that Yates's actions impacted Givens as well as the occupants of the three other cars involved in the collision. The trial court mentioned that another driver, who was previously healthy, required chiropractic treatment as a result of the collision. The trial court discussed the victim-impact statement of Givens's wife, who "liv[ed] a nightmare" by watching her husband paralyzed from the neck down before he died. The trial court stated that it "hope[d Yates] turn[s] her life around and honors [Givens]," but that nothing could be done to bring Givens back. The trial court sentenced Yates to ten years and twelve months of incarceration. The trial...
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