State v. Keeton

Neely, Chief Justice:

Defendant, Bradford M. Keeton, Jr., appeals from a decision of the Circuit Court of Kanawha County, sentencing him to life imprisonment with a recommendation of mercy upon his conviction of first degree murder. On 6 January 1979, at approximately 3:00 a.m., defendant struck and killed Terry Wayne Shaffer with an automobile in Charleston; however, defendant argued that he was so intoxicated that he didn’t see anyone in the street before the impact. Defendant has two primary assignments of error which involve his intoxication defense: (1) the exclusion of a Breathalyzer…