Lanning v. State

A jury convicted Timothy Lanning of vehicular homicide and driving under the influence of alcohol to the extent that it was less safe for him to drive. Lanning appeals, raising several enumerations of error. For the following reasons, we affirm. The evidence at trial, taken in the light most favorable to uphold the verdict, was as follows. The investigating officer testified that on the date in question, he was patrolling in the early morning hours when he came upon the scene of an accident. There was a van stopped in the middle of the road, with one man lying by the side of the road and another man walking in front of the van. While the officer was checking on the injured man, the other man, defendant Lanning, walked up and said “I wasn’t driving that van.” The officer said he could smell alcohol when Lanning walked up to him and he appeared to be intoxicated. The officer stated that Lanning told him his wife had been driving the van and she “flew out of the window over me” on the passenger side.

The officer in charge of accident reconstruction testified that there was evidence that someone was steering the van after Lanning’s wife Sonia was ejected. Also, the front seat of the van had two armrests between the passenger’s seat and the driver’s seat and both were in the down position after the accident. In addition, there was testimony that whoever was driving applied the brakes, put the van in park, and turned off the ignition. Based upon these and other findings, the accident reconstruction expert testified that the victim Sonia Lanning could not have been driving the van, and the only person who could have been driving the van was Lanning.