The Sixth Court of Appeals in Texarkana has affirmed the intoxication assault conviction and 10-year-prison sentence of Franky Paul Johnson, Upshur County District Attorney Billy Byrd said.

Johnson, of Gilmer, was tried in January in the 115th District Court in Gilmer for intoxication assault that occurred in the early morning of Feb. 26, 2007.

Johnson argued that the trial judge abused her discretion by not suppressing the blood alchohol test from blood taken from Johnson.

Justice Bailey Mosely wrote that state law does not always require consent or a search warrant where the responding officer believes an injury occurred.

Justice Mosely also addressed the issues of legal and factual insufficiency of the evidence indicating that a motor vehicle is a deadly weapon.

Mosely wrote that “the manner of the manner of the Appellant’s use of the truck (the reckless driving) was not only capable of causing serious bodily injury or death, but did cause serious bodily injury” to the victim.

“During this holiday season, let this be a reminder that those who choose to drink and drive will be aggressively prosecuted,” Byrd said. “This type of offense is a 100 percent preventable crime. The victim in this case was fortunate to survive.”

gilmermirror@gmail.com