This section contains the nature of the case and procedural background.

A jury convicted Essex (D) of three counts of second-degree murder. D was drunk and drove his car recklessly and drunk. Eventually, he ran through a traffic light at 55 mph just barely missing a tractor trailer. About a minute later, D collided with a pickup truck driven by John Gouldthorpe. Debra Gouldthorpe and Nora Neale, and James Carter, a passenger in D's car, died from injuries sustained in the collision. It was determined that D had a blood alcohol level of .144. D appealed his conviction.

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