Two Livingston locals convicted of DWI
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Tracy AdrianFrom Enterprise Staff
A Polk County jury returned a guilty verdict against Tracy Todd Adrian, 52 of Livingston, Wednesday. Adrian was found guilty of the offense of driving while intoxicated in conjunction with an incident that occurred at 1:35 a.m. on April 7, 2019.
According to evidence presented during the trial, a 911 caller told a dispatcher that Adrian’s vehicle, which was traveling eastbound on Hwy. 190, was “all over the road … like really, really bad … he just almost ran into the guardrail.”
An officer with the Livingston Police Department responded, locating and making contact with Adrian. Standard field sobriety tests were administered and blood was drawn pursuant to a search warrant. The analysis reflected Adrian’s blood alcohol content to be more than twice the legal limit. Video of the stop was not provided to jurors as the camera was in nonworking condition at the time of the stop.
Adrian faces up to six months in jail and up to a $2000 fine.
On Thursday, a separate Polk County jury found Michael Jermaine Chidester, 41, guilty of driving while intoxicated-second offense. Similar to the other case, a 911 call came in at approximately 2:30 a.m. on June 14, 2020 in which the caller reported “… there’s a car … going northbound in the southbound lane (of Hwy. 59) … hauling ass … it passed us …”
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Deputies with the Polk County Sheriff’s Office responded to the scene. According to testimony, Chidester refused to submit to the standard field sobriety tests and his blood was drawn pursuant to a search warrant. While the analysis showed Chidester had a blood alcohol content of more than twice the legal limit, it was excluded from the trial because of issues related to its admissibility. The deputies’ video of the stop was also excluded at trial.
Michael Chidester“Prosecuting a DWI case without a blood alcohol analysis or standard field sobriety tests presents a unique set of challenges to say the least,” Polk County Assistant District Attorney Tommy L. Coleman said. “Fortunately, the jury found the testimony of the deputies in the case to be credible and obviously thought that the other evidence in the case was sufficient to support a guilty verdict.”
Because this is Chidester’s second conviction for DWI, he faces up to one year in jail and a fine of up to $4000.
“The danger to the motoring public by intoxicated drivers cannot be overstated and all too often other innocent motorists suffer the tragic consequences of bad choices made by intoxicated drivers,” Polk County District Attorney William Lee Hon said. “We appreciate these Polk County jurors reminding everyone that you will be held accountable in this county if you choose to drive drunk or high.”
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