United States v. Merritt

961 F.3d 1105 (10th Cir. 2020)

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Facts

The Vijil family was driving down State Highway 41. Creighton Vijil was driving, and his parents, Cecil and Sallie, were passengers. Creighton noticed a pair of headlights approaching in the distance. He soon noticed that the oncoming vehicle was driving in the wrong direction-in his own lane. Creighton tried to swerve into the other lane to avoid the oncoming vehicle, but the two vehicles collided. Officer Heather Tolth spotted the accident and called for backup. She 'immediately smelled intoxicating liquor' emanating from D's truck. Not only were his eyes bloodshot, but she observed that his speech was slurred. By the time backup arrived, Cecil Vijil was dead. A newly arrived officer spoke with D and also concluded D was 'intoxicated.' D denied he had been drinking and said there was no alcohol in his car. The officer performed a field sobriety test, which D failed. D was unable to walk in a straight line and appeared to have difficulty balancing. D was arrested for driving under the influence of alcohol. Officers found two empty beer cans behind the driver's seat and a cooler filled with 15 full cans of Coors Light. Three and a half hours after the crash, D's blood alcohol level tested at about .19, well above the legal limit of .08. D's blood alcohol level would have been even higher-between .23 and .25-at the time of the crash. D eventually acknowledged he had consumed eight beers over the course of the afternoon. D admitted he knew it was wrong to drink and drive. P notified D that it intended to introduce evidence of other incidents in which D had been driving while under the influence of alcohol under Fed. R. Evid. 404(b). P introduced testimony regarding three other incidents through the arresting officers for each incident (2012, 2014, and a November 2016 arrest while D was out on bond for his August 2016 arrest.

Nature Of The Case

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Issues

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Holding & Decision

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Legal Analysis

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