Harber v. State

594 S.W.3d 438 (2019)

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Nature of the Case

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Facts

Calvin Brooks' front driver's side tire on his pickup truck blew out. He pulled over onto the grass past the shoulder and called for a tow truck. When the tow truck arrived, the driver, Travis Danner, had Brooks move his truck back onto the shoulder where the ground was level. Danner parked the tow truck behind Brooks. at an angle to the highway with the front of the tow truck pointing toward the road. Danner had room to work on the tire and walk between the vehicles without being in danger of stepping into the traffic lane. Danner left his emergency lights flashing and worked on the tire for five or ten minutes. Danner finished working and had walked away from the highway onto the grass with his back to the road. D was driving a mobile home hauler when he drove onto the right shoulder of the road and Danner. Danner died at the scene. Scott Candella testified he was driving east on I-10 when the accident occurred. Candella gave a statement to one of the deputies at the scene, stating, 'I think it was sideswiped, not sure exactly how it was hit.' Danner died of multiple blunt force injuries consistent with having been struck by a vehicle at high speed. Deputy Lopez testified that when he told D the driver had died, Harber dropped his head and started crying and said, 'I only looked down for a second, and then I felt the hit. And then I realized that my truck was on fire and I pulled it over.' D was indicted for manslaughter for recklessly causing the death of an individual by driving and operating a commercial vehicle without a valid driver's license or a valid commercial driver's license, driving and operating a motor vehicle at a speed that was not reasonable and prudent under the circumstances then existing, failing to apply the brakes in a timely and reasonable manner, failing to maintain a single lane of traffic, and driving on an improved shoulder. Prior to trial, the State amended the indictment by striking the allegation that D was 'driving and operating a motor vehicle at a speed that was not reasonable and prudent under the circumstances then existing.' The jury was charged on manslaughter and the lesser-included offense of criminally negligent homicide. D was found guilty of criminally negligent homicide and that he used or exhibited a deadly weapon during the commission of the offense. D appealed.