Grant v. State

Judge Harold R. Banke.

A jury convicted Lonnie Grant of the offenses of misdemeanor possession of marijuana and driving under the influence of alcohol.1 During the trial, Grant readily admitted having the marijuana on his person but denied driving the car. He claimed that a stranger, whom he had just met, was driving, “ ‘cause my license is suspended. I don’t drive, plus I was drunk.” After Grant emphatically declared on cross-examination that “I never drive drunk with a suspended license,” the trial court permitted the prosecutor to inquire whether the Department of Public Safety had, in…