Local DUI case will be heard by Supreme Court

The Tennessee Supreme Court has granted a discretionary appeal to a Mt. Juliet woman over a DUI sentence she received in this county.

Alecia Diane Cooper is appealing a sentence of 11 months and 29 days of confinement at 100 percent that was handed down by Bedford County Circuit Court Judge Lee Russell after she pleaded guilty to one count of driving under the influence, a Class A misdemeanor.

Russell had ruled that Cooper would be released after 90 days if she had entered and completed an in-patient alcohol treatment facility, but she challenged the sentence of total confinement, as well as the legality of the provision shortening her confinement if she completed treatment.

The Tennessee's Court of Criminal Appeals had upheld Cooper's sentence in February, but the Supreme Court granted her case one of only 11 discretionary appeals announced earlier this week. Cooper's case has now been placed on the court's docket for oral arguments.

Cooper was arrested on Jan. 26, 2008, by Bedford County deputies after she was observed driving erratically and failed field sobriety tests. A blood alcohol test that was sent to the TBI showed a 0.22 alcohol percentage, nearly three times the legal limit.

During Cooper's DUI sentencing hearing, prosecutors stated that she was convicted in 2005 of attempted assault and disorderly conduct, both of which are Class C felonies.

Russell has sentenced her to 48 hours of unsupervised probation as a result of a dispute at Calsonic Arena during the 2005 Tennessee Walking Horse National Celebration.

Also, 16 days before Cooper's DUI arrest in Bedford County, she was arrested in Illinois for driving while intoxicated, a charge for which she was later convicted.

Cooper's husband, William W. Torrance, testified while she maintained a primary residence in Shelbyville, her job required her to "either to be in Chicago or to travel around the country five days a week."

Torrance also testified that around the time of his wife's DUI, Cooper's job responsibilities had "increased significantly" and based on these additional work pressures, Cooper "had a need" to "ventilate some of the pressure that she was feeling at work and with life in general," the appeal read.

But under examination by the trial court, Torrance also testified that Cooper continued to use alcohol "very, very moderately" and that he was arrested for DUI on the same night as Cooper's arrest in this case.

Cooper had testified that it was her opinion that she had never been dependent upon alcohol "because she did not drink alone, drink consistently, or binge drink." She also testified she had never been diagnosed as an alcoholic and expressed remorse over her DUI conviction.

But Russell sentenced Cooper to the 11 months, 29 days, stating that after 90 days, "she could apply for furlough to attend in-patient rehabilitation and, upon successful completion, serve the remainder of her sentence on probation in an after-care program."

Cooper appealed that sentence, and the state responded by stating that Cooper's pattern of alcohol abuse supports the trial court's sentence of total confinement.

Russell stated that Cooper's past criminal convictions "demonstrated her tendency to behave erratically and out of line with her education and background," that two DUI charges in one month "indicated a disregard for the safety of the public" and that "her lack of awareness of or explanation for her intoxication on the night in issue suggested she had an alcohol abuse problem."

The appeals court agreed with all aspects of Russell's sentencing, stating that Cooper "has not shown that her sentence is improper ... (a)s such, we presume the trial court's sentence is correct."