Appeals court reverses man’s ninth DWI conviction

The Western District Court of Appeals has overturned a Boone County man’s ninth DWI conviction.

Richard Wilhite argued there was insufficient evidence to prove that he operated a motor vehicle while intoxicated because no one witnessed him actually driving the truck, according to court documents.

ABC 17 News reported on Wilhite’s arrest in September 2015. At the time he was also charged with three counts of kidnapping. In August of 2016, the court found Wilhite not guilty on the kidnapping charges, but guilty of driving while intoxicated. He was sentenced to eight years in prison.

According to the court documents, on August 25, 2015, a family saw Wilhite near a truck crashed in a ditch around 10:15 p.m. A trooper arrived on scene around 10:50 p.m. and did not see anyone there, but did find found a partially consumed bottle of beer and two empty beer in the truck. The trooper later arrested Wilhite at a home around 11:30 p.m.

In the opinion filed Tuesday, Judge Gary Witt wrote the state did not present evidence proving Wilhite was driving while intoxicated.

“Given the absence of evidence to establish the approximate time of Wilhite’s operation of the vehicle and his lack of access to alcohol between the operation of the vehicle and the time the witnesses observed his intoxication, the State failed to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that he operated a vehicle while intoxicated,” the opinion said.

The full opinion can be found attached to the top of this article.