Drunken driver gets nine years in prison

A repeat drunken driving offender was sentenced to nine years in prison Wednesday following a jury trial in Bowie County.

Jerry Lee Edwards, 56, was charged with his third driving while intoxicated offense Feb. 19, 2010, but the case could not be brought to trial until this week. Edwards failed to appear for an earlier court date and was not located by law enforcement until recently.

Edwards was under the influence when he wrecked his car at about 5 a.m., Feb. 19, 2010, in the 900 block of West Fourth Street in Texarkana, Texas, according to a probable cause affidavit used to create the following account. Edwards had gotten out of the car and claimed he had not been driving when a Texarkana, Texas, police officer arrived.

Edwards claimed someone else had been driving and had run off after crashing the vehicle. A witness who heard the sound of the crash before seeing it said Edwards was the only person he noticed near the wrecked car.

Other evidence suggested Edwards wasn’t being truthfu. The keys to the car were found in his right front pocket. Glass shards scattered on a jacket sitting in the passenger side floor board did not appear to have been disturbed by the feet or body of a second occupant.

Edwards smelled of alcohol and failed field sobriety tests. Edwards agreed to submit to two Breathalyzer tests which showed readings of .207 and .203, both well above the .08 level at which drivers are deemed legally impaired. Edwards had two prior convictions for driving while intoxicated and was arrested for felony driving while intoxicated.

The jury sentenced Edwards to a nine-year term, just one year shy of the 10-year maximum punishment allowed for the offense.

First Assistant District Attorney Mike Shepherd and Assistant District Attorney Katie Carter handled the prosecution. The trial was overseen by 202nd District Judge John Tidwell. Edwards was represented by the Bowie County Public Defenders Office.

“Too many individuals in our community engage in the dangerous behavior of driving while intoxicated,” Shepherd said. “This jury made it clear that repeat offenders will be sent to prison in order to save lives.”