Judge throws out latest charge for man with nine DWIs

Cape Girardeau County Circuit Judge William Syler granted a defense motion Wednesday to throw out a Delta man's charge of driving while intoxicated.

Dallis F. Coomer, who has nine prior convictions for DWI, was on trial for allegedly having a blood-alcohol content of 0.234, nearly three times the legal limit, while driving Feb. 10, 2007, in Delta. The legal limit in Missouri is 0.08.

At the end of the presentation of the prosecution's evidence, Coomer's defense attorney asked for and was granted a directed verdict of acquittal, which means not enough evidence was presented by the prosecution for the jury to make a reasonable judgment.

The defense's main strategy was to call into question the validity of a breath test administered to Coomer the night he was arrested.

According to the testimony of Cape Girardeau County deputy Verlan Graham, Coomer pulled out of the parking lot of Jack's Bar and Grill in Delta around 11:15 p.m. Graham did not initially find anything strange about the driving until he heard a bang and looked behind him to see Coomer's red Chevrolet sport utility vehicle. The bang, according to Graham, was the noise of the SUV's wheels hitting some railroad ties dividing the parking lot and a grassy area behind it. Graham said he looked in his rear-view mirror to see the SUV turn off the grass, down a driveway and turn right onto Route N.

Graham said he turned on his lights and sirens and followed the SUV roughly half a mile to Coomer's driveway. When asked whether any of 20 indicators of drunken driving were apparent in Coomer's driving, such as swerving, crossing the center line or speeding and then slowing, Graham said no.

In the driveway, Graham did not administer any field sobriety tests and placed Coomer under arrest so he could be taken for a breathalyzer test.

At 12:23 a.m., Graham said, he administered the breathalyzer test to Coomer, who recorded 0.234.

But the defense said at trial that Graham made several procedural errors that call into question the validity of the test. The main issue was that Graham did not monitor Coomer for 15 minutes before administering the test, as required by the Missouri Department of Health, the instrument's manufacturer and several Missouri police organizations.

The monitoring period is to ensure that the suspect does not do anything with his mouth, such as chew gum, drink water or smoke. Even if a suspect belches or regurgitates something, the 15-minute monitoring period must start over in case raw alcohol comes up from the stomach and skews the results.

According to Graham, Coomer may have belched or regurgitated something within the eight minutes before his test, between 12:15 a.m. and 12:23 a.m., in which case Graham would have been required to restart the 15-minute period. However, he did not.

At the end of Graham's testimony, the defense requested that the ticket not be accepted as evidence by the prosecution. Syler granted that request and the subsequent request for a directed verdict. The defense's witnesses were not called.

Coomer, who was on his 10th charge of driving while intoxicated, would have faced five to 15 years in prison had he been convicted of the class C felony.

However, the prior convictions were not a factor in the current case.

The process of granting a directed verdict of acquittal is a rather infrequent occurrence, but Syler felt it was the appropriate route.

"Even with every fact true, there was not enough evidence to go forward," Syler said. "A lot of this doesn't come out until all the cards are face up."

Coomer was also charged with driving with a revoked license in the 2007 incident. He pleaded guilty to that charge, and a sentencing hearing will take place June 16.

Coomer had little to say after the directed verdict.

"I'm lucky," he said.

tthomas@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 197

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