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Brown v. State

The evidence authorized the jury to find that the vehicular homicide defendant took no evasive action prior to fatally striking a pedestrian in area, which was lit from several commercial establishments, because he was DUI at the time.

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Following a jury trial, Joseph Brown was convicted of vehicular homicide by driving under the influence of alcohol.1 Brown appeals, challenging the sufficiency of the evidence. We find the evidence sufficient, and, we affirm. Following his conviction, Brown no longer enjoys a presumption of innocence, and we view the evidence in a light favorable to the verdict.2 In so doing, we neither weigh the evidence nor assess witness credibility, but merely ascertain whether the evidence was sufficient to establish Brown’s guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.3 So viewed, the evidence shows that on December 6, 2001, Scott Jeter, a Georgia State Patrol officer, responded to a report of a pedestrian being struck. When Jeter arrived, he found Brown’s vehicle partially resting on the concrete curb. Kevin Hurley, the pedestrian, was on the ground nearby, unconscious.

Brown told the officer that “he was traveling down the road and . . . Hurley ran into him, into the side of his truck.” According to Jeter, Brown had a “strong smell of alcohol” and “his speech appeared slurred and he also mumbled.” Brown, who admitted to consuming “a couple of beers,” submitted to an alcosensor test which revealed the presence of alcohol. Based on his opinion that Brown was under the influence of alcohol to the extent that it was less safe for him to drive, Jeter placed Brown under arrest for DUI. A blood test administered at the hospital several hours later indicated that Brown’s blood alcohol level was .118.

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