Impaired Driver Crashes with Alcohol and Five Drugs in Her System
DA Charme Allen announces that prosecutors in the DUI Unit obtained a conviction against a woman who wrecked her car after consuming six beers and multiple drugs. Telina Sheree Fuller, 48, was convicted of Driving Under the Influence. Judge Hector Sanchez set the case for sentencing on March 13.
In a two-day trial, Assistant District Attorneys Caleb Smothers and Mitch Eisenberg explained to the jury that on March 6, 2024, Tennessee Highway Patrol Trooper Amaro Carrion was dispatched to a single-car wreck on Maynardville Pike. Upon arrival, Rural Metro Fire and AMR ambulance paramedics were already on scene, helping to remove Fuller from the driver’s seat of the vehicle. Fuller was put on a stretcher and loaded into the ambulance. She told Trp. Amaro Carrion that she consumed three beers, but on the way to the University of Tennessee Medical Center, she told paramedics that she consumed six beers and an Ambien sleeping pill. Once at the hospital, samples of Fuller’s blood were drawn and sent to the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation crime lab for testing. That testing revealed that Fuller had a blood alcohol concentration of 0.097. She also had zolpidem (Ambien), alprazolam (Xanax), THC (marijuana), gabapentin, and amphetamine in her system. Fuller spent several days in the intensive care unit because of the injuries sustained during the crash including multiple broken ribs and lacerations to internal organs.
“Impaired driving can have devastating effects not only for other motorists, but also for the impaired driver,” said DA Allen. “With such easy access to so many rideshare alternatives, there is no excuse for the danger of impaired driving.”
Driving Under the Influence is a Class A Misdemeanor that carries a maximum punishment up to eleven months and twenty-nine days in jail. The mandatory minimum for a DUI First Offense is forty-eight hours in custody with a $350 fine, DUI School, and a license revocation of one year. At sentencing, prosecutors will seek an enhanced sentence because Fuller has a prior DUI conviction from over ten years ago. Assistant Victim Witness Coordinator Lauren Ward and Legal Secretary Jennifer Stout aided in the prosecution of this case.
If you have any questions, please contact Sean McDermott at 865-215-2515 or Sean.McDermott@knoxcounty.org. For more information about the District Attorney’s Office, visit our website at dag.knoxcountytn.gov and follow us on Facebook and Twitter.