Local news
NEW: Attorney General appoints DA to Howard case
The Oklahoma Attorney General's office has assigned a district attorney from a neighboring county to handle the investigation into Cleveland County Clerk Tammy Howard's arrest for allegedly driving under the influence.
Charlie Price, a spokesman for Attorney General Drew Edmondson's office, said the investigation has been turned over to Richard Smothermon, district attorney for District 23 which covers Pottawatomie and Lincoln counties. Smothermon will look at the evidence and decide if any charges should be filed against Howard, 42, of Noble.
Smothermon said he received Howard's case on Tuesday, but has not reached a decision on whether to file any charges.
Howard's arrest came after Cleveland County deputy pulled over the vehicle she was driving about 2 a.m. Jan. 25 near the intersection of 96th Street and Cemetery Road in Noble.
"I observed the vehicle traveling at a high rate of speed and driving erratically by traveling in the lane of oncoming traffic," Deputy Sammie Jo Seal said in the arrest report. "As I tried to catch up to the vehicle, I observed my dashboard odometer to read 70 mph and I was still accelerating in order to catch up to the vehicle. I observed the vehicle leave the roadway at a high rate of speed. The vehicle then came to an abrupt stop facing the southeast, in the grassy area of the west side of the roadway.
When Seal approached the vehicle, Seal contacted Howard who was the only person in the 2003 Pontiac, according to the report.
"I immediately smelled an odor commonly associated with an alcoholic beverage on her breath and person, she had slurred speech and red, watery eyes," the report stated. "As Tammy exited the vehicle, I observed she was unsteady on her feet and was attempting to make a phone call."
Seal asked Howard if she had been drinking, according to the report.
"She advised that she has consumed a glass of wine earlier with dinner," the report stated. "Tammy advised she just lived around the corner and four drive-ways down on the left. At this time, she was pointing south. I advised Tammy that the road she was pointing towards was Cemetery Road. She advised it was Etowah Road."
Seal said it was clear that Howard did not know her location and was traveling of the opposite direction of her home, according to the arrest report.
"She was approximately 2 1/2 miles south of her house, and which time she thought she was just north of it," according to the report.
Seal said Howard agreed to the Standardized Field Test. Based on Seal's observations, the deputy arrested Howard for reasonable suspicion of driving under the influence of alcohol, according to the report.
"I read the Implied Consent to Tammy. She stated, "I'm not taking any tests,'" the report stated.
Seal transported Howard to the Cleveland County Detention Center and booked her in for the DUI charge.
According to the report, Howard refused the state's breath and blood test.
Meghan McCormick
366-3539
mmccormick@normantranscript.com
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