Grand Jurors hand Mart man a pass in DWI case

Umpire calls ball in first at-bat

When the big pickup passed the other guy tooling along I-35 near a shopping center at Bellmead, he zigged, so the driver zagged – and nearly collided with the fenders of a State Trooper's car on the shoulder.

Wrong.

The trooper hit the lights and followed him into the Wal-Mart parking lot at the next exit on the corner of Lakeshore Dr. and I-35.

DPS Highway Patrolman Basilio Martinez reported a strong odor of alcohol when he approached the vehicle.

He asked Todd Gooden to alight so he could question him, and Mr. Gooden told him he was sorry about the swerve, that it was unavoidable. He also said he and his wife had been to a movie. They had nothing to drink that evening of March 25, 2012, he said.

The time? It was 01:35 a.m.

The trooper wasn't buying into that story. It didn't match up with what he was seeing. More importantly, it wouldn't pass the sniff test, either.

That's when Mr. Gooden, who is Superintendent of Schools at Mart, shifted gears. He said that he had been drinking, after all, but “That was a long time ago.” Six hours.

Trooper Martinez wasn't amused. He is clearly heard saying on the dashcam video that Mr. Gooden is getting real close to going to jail – then and there.

Mr. Gooden did okay on the field sobriety test, stood on one foot, walked heel and toe – all that jazz with following the ballpoint with his eyes, but when it came time to blow into the portable breath alcohol content analyzer, his specimen came up 0.103 – way over the line of legal intoxication, which is drawn at .08 for impaired driving. He also showed six clues of intoxication when his eyes jerked along trying to follow the moving ballpoint pen.

He was told to go stand “over there” while the trooper questioned his wife.

Mrs. Jeni Myrae Gooden stepped out of the pickup and, in sprightly good-natured tones, when asked, said they had been at a popular downtown Waco night spot named Crickett's.

That's not a movie. It's a saloon, a place for drinks, sandwiches and other fine eats, many varieties of cold brew, pool, a very nice stereo system, and lots of very pretty people.

Then, in classic fashion, she gave up the other party to the offense.

Asked if she had anything to drink, she said, yes. Asked if her husband had, she can be heard to say “He hasn't had anywhere near as much as I have.”

Busted.

They both wore the bracelets on the ride to the jail, where Mr. Gooden refused to sign a waiver and supply a breath sample.

Trooper Martinez charged Mrs. Gooden with the misdemeanor offense of public intoxication. He also noted on an inventory of the interior of the pickup that he found two open containers in the passenger cab.

As a first offender charged with DWI, Mr. Gooden could have forfeited his driving privileges for not less than 6 months because he refused to supply a court-admissible breath sample at the jail, but somehow, his case wound up in front of a McLennan County Grand Jury, which no-billed him.

So, it didn't work out that the first charge of DWI lodged against his record would count in the formidable three-strikes-you're out rule adopted by the legislature when it comes to drunk driving.

That third charge is a felony offense, often punished by a trip to a state prison treatment center for a year-long term of Substance Abuse Felony Punishment.  ball in first at-ba

When the big pickup passed the other guy tooling along I-35 near a shopping center at Bellmead, he zigged, so the driver zagged – and nearly collided with the fenders of a State Trooper's car on the shoulder.

Wrong.

The trooper hit the lights and followed him into the Wal-Mart parking lot at the next exit on the corner of Lakeshore Dr. and I-35.

DPS Highway Patrolman Basilio Martinez reported a strong odor of alcohol when he approached the vehicle.

He asked Todd Gooden to alight so he could question him, and Mr. Gooden told him he was sorry about the swerve, that it was unavoidable. He also said he and his wife had been to a movie. They had nothing to drink that evening of March 25, 2012, he said.

The time? It was 01:35 a.m.

The trooper wasn't buying into that story. It didn't match up with what he was seeing. More importantly, it wouldn't pass the sniff test, either.

That's when Mr. Gooden, who is Superintendent of Schools at Mart, shifted gears. He said that he had been drinking, after all, but “That was a long time ago.” Six hours.

Trooper Martinez wasn't amused. He is clearly heard saying on the dashcam video that Mr. Gooden is getting real close to going to jail – then and there.

Mr. Gooden did okay on the field sobriety test, stood on one foot, walked heel and toe – all that jazz with following the ballpoint with his eyes, but when it came time to blow into the portable breath alcohol content analyzer, his specimen came up 0.103 – way over the line of legal intoxication, which is drawn at .08 for impaired driving. He also showed six clues of intoxication when his eyes jerked along trying to follow the moving ballpoint pen.

He was told to go stand “over there” while the trooper questioned his wife.

Mrs. Jeni Myrae Gooden stepped out of the pickup and, in sprightly good-natured tones, when asked, said they had been at a popular downtown Waco night spot named Crickett's.

That's not a movie. It's a saloon, a place for drinks, sandwiches and other fine eats, many varieties of cold brew, pool, a very nice stereo system, and lots of very pretty people.

Then, in classic fashion, she gave up the other party to the offense.

Asked if she had anything to drink, she said, yes. Asked if her husband had, she can be heard to say “He hasn't had anywhere near as much as I have.”

Busted.

They both wore the bracelets on the ride to the jail, where Mr. Gooden refused to sign a waiver and supply a breath sample.

Trooper Martinez charged Mrs. Gooden with the misdemeanor offense of public intoxication. He also noted on an inventory of the interior of the pickup that he found two open containers in the passenger cab.

As a first offender charged with DWI, Mr. Gooden could have forfeited his driving privileges for not less than 6 months because he refused to supply a court-admissible breath sample at the jail, but somehow, his case wound up in front of a McLennan County Grand Jury, which no-billed him.

So, it didn't work out that the first charge of DWI lodged against his record would count in the formidable three-strikes-you're out rule adopted by the legislature when it comes to drunk driving.

That third charge is a felony offense, often punished by a trip to a state prison treatment center for a year-long term of Substance Abuse Felony Punishment.