Walden v. State

SULLIVAN, Justice.

Larry Walden and his fiancée, Molly Arthur, were in an auto accident in which Walden’s truck swerved off the road and ended upside-down in a ditch. Walden managed to crawl out of the truck, but Arthur later died from her injuries. A jury found Walden guilty of the crime of Causing Death When Operating a Motor Vehicle with a Schedule I or II Controlled Substance in Blood. After returning its verdict at the conclusion of the “guilt phase” of the trial, a “habitual offender phase” of the trial followed pursuant to procedures authorized by the Legislature for punishing repeat…