State of Tennessee v. Jonathan Christopher Carey

A Davidson County jury convicted the Defendant, Jonathan Christopher Carey, of driving while intoxicated (“DUI”), and the trial court found him guilty of violating the implied consent law.  The trial court sentenced the Defendant to eleven months and twenty nine days for the DUI conviction and ordered that he lose his driving privileges for one year for violating the implied consent law.  On appeal, the Defendant contends that: (1) his constitutional right pursuant to the Confrontation Clause was violated; (2) the trial court erred when it declined to instruct the jury about a missing witness; (3) the trial court erred when it admitted the video recording of his traffic stop into evidence; (4) the evidence is insufficient to sustain his convictions; and (5) the trial court erred when it enhanced the Defendant’s sentence based upon a reckless driving charge.  After a thorough review of the record and applicable law, we conclude that the Defendant’s right to confront a witness against him was violated when the trial court allowed the admission of the videotape of him performing field sobriety tasks and the officer conducting those tasks was not present at trial.  Accordingly, we reverse the trial court’s judgments, vacate the Defendant’s convictions, and remand the case for further proceedings consistent with this opinion.