Laura Sanders v. State ( 2014 )


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  • AFFIRM as Modified; and Opinion Filed April 23, 2014.
    S   In The
    Court of Appeals
    Fifth District of Texas at Dallas
    No. 05-12-01186-CR
    LAURA SANDERS, Appellant
    V.
    THE STATE OF TEXAS, Appellee
    On Appeal from the County Criminal Court No. 1
    Dallas County, Texas
    Trial Court Cause No. MB10-52665
    OPINION
    Before Justices O'Neill, Myers, and Brown
    Opinion by Justice Brown
    Laura Sanders appeals her conviction for the offense of driving while intoxicated. A jury
    found appellant guilty, and the trial court assessed her punishment at 180 days’ confinement,
    probated for twenty-four months, and a $750 fine. As a condition of probation, the trial court
    originally ordered appellant to pay restitution in the amount of $7,000 to a woman whose car
    appellant hit while driving intoxicated. In six points of error, appellant contends the trial court
    erred in allowing expert witnesses and certain evidence when the State did not comply with the
    court’s discovery orders, in admitting appellant’s medical records into evidence, and in ordering
    restitution. In an opinion issued February 4, 2014, we agreed with appellant that the original
    restitution amount did not have a factual basis within the loss of the victim. We abated the
    appeal and remanded the case for a new restitution hearing. The trial court held a hearing and
    issued a new restitution order in the amount of $7,075.28. We reinstated the appeal on March
    20, 2014 and now consider appellant’s remaining points of error. We modify the trial court’s
    judgment to 1) reflect that appellant is ordered to pay restitution of $7,075.28 and 2) accurately
    reflect the fine orally assessed. As modified, we affirm the judgment.
    BACKGROUND
    On the night of February 8, 2010, Samantha Lewis was driving on the Dallas North
    Tollway and observed appellant driving erratically. Appellant continuously swerved across all
    lanes of the tollway for a period of ten to fifteen minutes and almost hit another car. Lewis
    called 911 to report appellant and exited the tollway. As Lewis was slowing down to stop for a
    red light, she looked in her rear view mirror and saw appellant “barreling down the exit.”
    Appellant’s car struck Lewis’s car twice and flipped over. Lewis got out of her car and looked
    for appellant. Lewis could smell alcohol coming out of appellant’s car. Paramedics arrived and
    removed appellant from her car and took her to Parkland Hospital.
    The Dallas Police Department accident investigator called to the scene dispatched Officer
    Bobby Watkins with the DWI squad to Parkland to investigate appellant for possible DWI.
    Watkins observed that appellant had bloodshot eyes, her breath had a strong smell of alcoholic
    beverage, and her speech was slurred. Watkins performed the horizontal gaze nystagmus test on
    appellant. Appellant’s performance on the test indicated to Watkins that appellant did not have
    normal use of her mental and physical faculties due to alcohol. When Watkins asked appellant
    to take a blood test, appellant refused. Watkins arrested appellant for DWI and told her to turn
    herself in to the police when she was released from the hospital, which she did.
    While appellant was hospitalized, a nurse drew her blood and it was tested for blood-
    alcohol level, among other things. Shannon Jeter, a nurse manager at Parkland, testified that she
    was very familiar with the hospital’s standard procedures. She described the procedures for
    –2–
    taking a patient’s blood, sending it to the lab for tests, and getting back the lab results. Jeter saw
    appellant before she was discharged from the hospital, but was not the nurse who took
    appellant’s blood. Angeline Coyoca, a medical technologist at Parkland, testified that she was
    the person who verified and released the results of appellant’s blood-alcohol test. The value of
    the ethanol in appellant’s blood was 370.         Then Aria McCall, a forensic toxicologist at
    Southwestern Institute of Forensic Sciences, testified that she had experience reading blood
    results from medical records. If whole blood was tested, a 370 ethanol value translates to .37
    grams of alcohol per 100 milliliters. If plasma was tested instead of whole blood, a 370 ethanol
    value translates to .31 grams of alcohol per 100 milliliters.      McCall stated she would find it
    highly unlikely that one could safely operate a motor vehicle one hour prior to having a blood-
    alcohol content of .37.
    At the conclusion of the evidence, the jury found appellant guilty. At the punishment
    phase, Lewis and appellant testified. The trial court then assessed appellant’s punishment at 180
    days’ confinement, probated for twenty-four months, and a $750 fine.             The court ordered
    appellant to pay Lewis $7,000 restitution as a condition of probation. This appeal followed.
    DISCOVERY ISSUES
    In her first and second points of error, appellant contends the trial court erred in allowing
    the State’s expert witnesses to testify when they were not disclosed prior to trial and also in
    allowing evidence of the blood-alcohol test performed during appellant’s hospital stay because
    documents the defense needed to prepare for trial were not produced. Appellant contends the
    trial court allowed such evidence in violation of article 39.14 of the code of criminal procedure
    and also that she was denied a fair trial as a result. See TEX. CODE CRIM. PROC. ANN. art. 39.14
    (b) (West Supp. 2013).
    –3–
    Several months prior to trial, in October 2011, appellant filed a motion asking the trial
    court to order the State to disclose its expert witnesses at least twenty days before trial and also
    to disclose copies of any reports, documents, or notes the experts had prepared for their
    testimony. Appellant also filed a “Motion for Discovery and Inspection of Records Related to
    the Blood Testing in this Case.” Appellant specifically asked the trial court to order, within ten
    days, the State’s attorney and agents to provide various information regarding the laboratory’s
    policies and protocols for testing blood samples. The trial court granted both motions.1
    At trial in April 2012, after voir dire and outside the presence of the jury, defense counsel
    asked the court to exclude all expert testimony, including that related to accident reconstruction,
    sobriety tests, blood test results, and medical records. Counsel stated that he had received no
    notice of any experts. He also complained that he received nothing regarding his motion to
    discover any blood test results or procedures. Defense counsel had only received the medical
    records that day. The problem seemed to have arisen because the prosecutor who took the case
    to trial was not the prosecutor assigned to the case when the discovery orders were signed. The
    court recessed the proceedings to allow the current prosecutor to talk to the previous prosecutor.
    There was no ruling at this time, and the trial proceeded after approximately forty-five minutes.
    After Officer Watkins completed his testimony, another hearing was held outside the
    presence of the jury. The State produced for the first time a notice of its expert witnesses.
    Defense counsel reasserted his claim that the State had violated the court’s order requiring the
    State to give twenty days’ notice of its experts in accordance with article 39.14(b) of the code of
    criminal procedure. The parties also discussed appellant’s medical records which were filed-
    1
    We note that the trial court’s order regarding the blood testing was directed to the Southwest Institute of Forensic Science, which was not
    involved in the testing in this case, and ordered SWIFS to produce various items to appellant. However, the court also ordered that “any evidence
    within the scope of the items granted above be provided by the State to defendant’s attorney . . . on the tenth day after the date of this order.” In
    its brief, citing its open-file policy, the State contends it was appellant’s responsibility to gather evidence to use in her defense. The State
    therefore asserts the trial court exceeded its power in issuing this order. Because we dispose of these points of error on grounds of waiver, we do
    not address this argument.
    –4–
    stamped by the county clerk on March 15, 2012, less than a month before trial. Defense counsel
    did not have notice of the medical blood test before this time. Counsel had thought that this case
    was a “regular Texas DPS blood draw.”
    The trial court stated it did not think there was any bad faith on the part of the State. The
    court indicated it would have entertained a motion for continuance from appellant on these
    issues. To give defense counsel an adequate chance to prepare, the trial court stated it would
    give counsel the option to take a mid-trial continuance and resume the proceedings in a week.
    Defense counsel conferred with appellant off the record, and then the trial resumed, with the
    State presenting its remaining three witnesses - Jeter, Coyoca, and McCall.
    Appellant alleges that violations of the court’s discovery orders resulted in her attorney
    not being able to adequately prepare a meaningful defense. The proper procedure when alleging
    surprise due to violation of the trial court’s orders for discovery is to request a continuance.
    Duff-Smith v. State, 
    685 S.W.2d 26
    , 33 (Tex. Crim. App. 1985); Tamez v. State, 
    205 S.W.3d 32
    ,
    40 (Tex. App.—Tyler 2006, no pet.). If a witness’s name is not furnished to a defendant before
    trial despite a court order, any error in allowing that witness to testify over a claim of lack of
    notice is waived by the failure to move for a continuance. Barnes v. State, 
    876 S.W.2d 316
    , 328
    (Tex. Crim. App. 1994); see Lindley v. State, 
    635 S.W.2d 541
    , 544 (Tex. Crim. App. 1982)
    (failure to seek continuance waives error urged on basis of surprise).         Here, not only did
    appellant fail to request a continuance, she turned down the trial court’s sua sponte offer for a
    week-long continuance to prepare further for trial. In appellant’s brief, counsel asserts that he
    elected to move forward with the trial because a seven-day continuance would not have afforded
    him adequate time to prepare and to obtain the blood protocols. This is pure speculation, and
    nothing would have prevented counsel from seeking another continuance if one week did not
    –5–
    prove to be adequate. Under these circumstances, we conclude appellant has waived any error in
    the trial court’s actions. We overrule appellant’s first and second issues.
    ADMISSION OF MEDICAL RECORDS
    In her third, fourth, and fifth points of error, appellant contends the trial court erred in
    admitting into evidence her 112-page medical records from her stay in Parkland after the
    accident. The State obtained these records before trial through a court-issued subpoena duces
    tecum directed to the custodian of records at Parkland. In its order for release of the records, the
    court found that good cause had been shown for issuance of the subpoena to further the
    prosecution of a criminal matter pending before the court.
    Appellant contends in point three that the medical records were admitted in violation of
    the confrontation clause. Specifically she contends the records contain testimonial statements by
    witnesses who were not called to testify and were not subject to cross-examination. When the
    medical records were offered into evidence, appellant objected on this basis, but her objection
    was overruled.
    The Confrontation Clause of the Sixth Amendment provides that in all criminal
    prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to be confronted with the witnesses against her.
    Langham v. State, 
    305 S.W.3d 568
    , 575 (Tex. Crim. App. 2010). In Crawford v. Washington,
    the supreme court held that out-of-court statements offered against the accused that are
    testimonial in nature are objectionable unless the prosecution can show that the out-of-court
    declarant is unavailable to testify in court and the accused had a prior opportunity to cross
    examine him. Crawford v. Washington, 
    541 U.S. 36
    , 53-54 (2004); see Langham, 
    305 S.W.3d at 575
    . The primary focus in determining whether a hearsay statement is testimonial is on the
    objective purpose of the interview or interrogation, not upon the declarant’s expectations. De La
    Paz v. State, 
    273 S.W. 3d 671
    , 680 (Tex. Crim. App. 2008). A hearsay statement is testimonial
    –6–
    when the surrounding circumstances objectively indicate the primary purpose of the interview is
    to establish or prove past events potentially relevant to later criminal prosecution. 
    Id.
     Medical
    records, created for treatment purposes, are not testimonial within the meaning of Crawford.
    Melendez-Diaz v. Massachusetts, 
    557 U.S. 305
    , 312 n.2 (2009).              Whether an out-of-court
    statement is non-testimonial is a question of law we review de novo. Wall v. State, 
    184 S.W.3d 730
    , 742 (Tex. Crim. App. 2006).
    Upon questioning by appellant, Nurse Jeter testified that she was aware the blood tests
    they perform at the hospital are sometimes used in criminal cases. Appellant contends this
    testimony shows that the medical records were testimonial in nature. We disagree. Despite the
    nurse’s awareness that medical records are sometimes used in criminal cases, the objective
    purpose of gathering information from and about appellant at the hospital was to treat her
    injuries resulting from the car accident. Because the medical records were created for the
    primary purpose of treating appellant’s injuries, we conclude they are non-testimonial in nature,
    and the trial court did not violate appellant’s right to confront witnesses in admitting them.
    The essence of appellant’s confrontation clause complaint is that the State needed to call
    as witnesses the nurse who actually took appellant’s blood and the technician who tested the
    blood so they could be subject to cross-examination. Appellant cites Bullcoming v. New Mexico,
    
    131 S. Ct. 2705
     (2011) in support of this argument. In that DWI case, after the defendant rear-
    ended another vehicle and failed field sobriety tests, the police obtained a warrant authorizing a
    blood test. 
    Id. at 2710
    . At trial, the forensic lab report containing the results of this test was the
    principal evidence against the defendant. The prosecution did not call the analyst who signed
    and certified the report. Instead they called another analyst who was familiar with the lab’s
    testing procedures, but had not participated in or observed the testing. 
    Id. at 2709
    . The supreme
    court held that the report contained a testimonial certification, and the defendant had a right to be
    –7–
    confronted with the analyst who made the certification. 
    Id. at 2710
    . Appellant ignores the fact
    that, unlike Bullcoming, the blood testing in this case was done in the hospital for purposes of
    medical treatment and therefore was not testimonial in nature. See Melendez-Diaz, 
    557 U.S. at
    312 n.2; see also Bullcoming, 
    131 S. Ct. at 2720
     (when primary purpose of statement is not to
    create record for trial, admissibility of statement is concern of rules of evidence, not
    confrontation clause) (Sotomayor, J., concurring). We overrule appellant’s third point of error.
    In her fourth point of error, appellant contends the trial court erred in admitting the
    medical records because they contained hearsay within hearsay. When the State offered the
    medical records into evidence at trial, appellant objected on the basis of hearsay within hearsay,
    but did not point out any specific instances of it. The court overruled appellant’s objections to
    the medical records and admitted them into evidence. In her brief, the only specific example of
    hearsay within hearsay appellant mentions is her statement, in response to questions about her
    social history, that she drinks alcohol twice a week, “but when I drink, I can drink.” 2 Appellant
    contends this statement “and others like it” should not have been allowed.
    To preserve error on the admission of evidence at trial, a party must make a timely and
    sufficiently specific objection and obtain a ruling. TEX. R. APP. P. 33.1(a). Appellant needed to
    specify what portions of the 112-page medical records were hearsay within hearsay. See Sonnier
    v. State, 
    913 S.W.2d 511
    , 518 (Tex. Crim. App. 1995) (when exhibit contains admissible and
    inadmissible evidence, objection must specifically refer to challenged material).                                                   Because
    appellant did not inform the trial court what statements in the medical records were allegedly
    hearsay within hearsay, she has not preserved this point of error for our review. Further,
    2
    Although appellant states in her brief that the medical records also contain “statements as to how Ms. Sanders was found and the
    assumptions those that found her made,” she has neither specified what those statements were nor provided any citations to the record to show the
    Court where in the 112-page medical records those statements can be found. See TEX. R. APP. P. 38.1(i) (appellant’s brief must contain clear
    argument for contentions made, with appropriate citations to record).
    –8–
    appellant’s statement about her history of alcohol consumption was admissible under an
    exception to the hearsay rule for statements made for purposes of medical diagnoses or treatment
    and describing medical history. See TEX. R. EVID. 803(4). To the extent appellant complains of
    other instances of hearsay within hearsay, not only were they not pointed out to the trial court,
    they have not been pointed out to this Court in appellant’s brief. We overrule appellant’s fourth
    point of error.
    In her fifth point of error, appellant contends the trial court erred in admitting her medical
    records because they were obtained in violation of the Health Insurance Portability and
    Accountability Act of 1996 (“HIPAA”), which limits the situations in which a healthcare
    provider can release a patient’s medical information without the patient’s consent. 
    45 C.F.R. § 164.502
     (2013). Appellant contends she had a reasonable expectation of privacy in her medical
    records, even blood-alcohol test results.
    Appellant has waived this point of error. During the discussion of the State’s violation
    of the court’s discovery orders, appellant mentioned HIPAA and asserted that there should have
    been a hearing about whether the subpoena for the medical records violated HIPAA because
    appellant did not give permission to release them. The trial court indicated it did not think
    HIPAA applied, but said appellant could have a hearing. Appellant then went on to consider
    whether to take the week-long continuance offered by the court. When the State later moved to
    admit the medical records into evidence, appellant raised several objections, none of which
    involved HIPAA. As a prerequisite to presenting a complaint for appellate review, a party must
    make a timely and specific objection at trial, and there must be an adverse ruling by the trial
    court. TEX. R. APP. P. 33.1(a). Appellant did not ask the court to exclude the medical records on
    the basis of HIPAA; she instead asked for a hearing on whether HIPAA was violated. The trial
    –9–
    court indicated she could have a hearing, but HIPAA was not brought up again at trial. Under
    these circumstances, appellant has not preserved error.
    Even if we consider the merits of appellant’s HIPAA argument, there was no error. Prior
    to the enactment of HIPAA, in State v. Hardy, the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals held that a
    person has no reasonable expectation of privacy in blood-alcohol test results taken by hospital
    personnel for purely medical purposes after a traffic accident. State v. Hardy, 
    963 S.W.2d 516
    ,
    527 (Tex. Crim. App. 1997). Courts have held that HIPAA does not preempt Hardy. Kirsch v.
    State, 
    276 S.W.3d 579
    , 586-87 (Tex. App.—Houston [1st Dist.] 2008), aff’d on other grounds,
    
    306 S.W.3d 738
     (Tex. Crim. App. 2010); Kennemur v. State, 
    280 S.W.3d 305
    , 312 (Tex. App.—
    Amarillo 2008, pet. ref’d); Murray v. State, 
    245 S.W.3d 37
    , 42 (Tex. App.—Austin 2007, pet.
    ref’d). Appellant acknowledges this state of the law, yet asserts that a 2009 amendment to
    HIPAA requires a change in the law.
    Appellant relies on language in that section of HIPAA making wrongful disclosure of
    individually identifiable health information an offense. Specifically, she points to the following
    clarifying language: “[A] person (including an employee or other individual) shall be considered
    to have obtained or disclosed individually identifiable health information in violation of this part
    if the information is maintained by a covered entity . . . and the individual obtained or disclosed
    such information without authorization.” 42 U.S.C. § 1320d-6(a) (2014). Appellant argues that
    because this language makes it possible for law enforcement personnel or district attorneys to
    violate HIPAA, a defendant has a reasonable expectation of privacy in her blood-alcohol test
    results. We are not persuaded that the amendment appellant relies on changes the fact that there
    is no reasonable expectation of privacy in blood-alcohol test results obtained for medical
    purposes following an accident. Because appellant had no reasonable expectation of privacy, she
    has no standing to complain of a HIPAA violation.
    –10–
    Further, appellant’s medical records were properly disclosed under HIPAA pursuant to
    court order. Under section 164.512, a covered entity may disclose protected health information
    without authorization in certain situations. 
    45 C.F.R. § 164.512
    . HIPAA allows disclosure of
    protected health information for law enforcement purposes to a law enforcement official, if
    disclosure is in compliance with a “court order or court-ordered warrant, or a subpoena or
    summons issued by a judicial officer.” 
    Id.
     § 164.512(f)(1)(ii). It also permits disclosure for
    judicial proceedings in response to an order of a court. Id. § 164.512(e)(1)(i). We overrule
    appellant’s fifth point of error.
    RESTITUTION
    In her sixth point of error, appellant contends the trial court erred in ordering that she pay
    restitution to Samantha Lewis as a condition of probation. She raises three complaints about the
    restitution order: 1) the amount of restitution does not have a factual basis within the record; 2)
    Lewis was not a victim of the DWI; and 3) the restitution was for an offense for which appellant
    was not criminally responsible.
    In addition to any fine authorized by law, the court that sentences a defendant convicted
    of an offense may order the defendant to make restitution to any victim of the offense. TEX.
    CODE CRIM. PROC. ANN. art. 42.037(a) (West Supp. 2013); see also TEX. CODE CRIM. PROC.
    ANN. art. 42.12 sec. 11(b) (West Supp. 2013). Restitution may include reimbursement for any
    loss or destruction of property of a victim of the offense and expenses incurred by a victim due to
    personal injury resulting from the offense. TEX. CODE CRIM. PROC. ANN. arts. 42.037(b)(1),
    42.037(b)(2) (West Supp. 2013). The court of criminal appeals recognizes three limits on the
    authority of a trial court to order restitution, all of which appellant raises here. Lemos v. State, 
    27 S.W.3d 42
    , 45 (Tex. App.—San Antonio 2000, pet. ref’d). The amount of restitution must be
    just, and it must have a factual basis within the loss of the victim. Campbell v. State, 5 S.W.3d
    –11–
    693, 696 (Tex. Crim. App. 1999). Further, a trial court may not order restitution for an offense
    for which the defendant is not criminally responsible. Id. at 697. Third, a trial court may not
    order restitution to anyone but the victim of the offense with which the offender is charged. Id.
    We review challenges to restitution orders under an abuse of discretion standard. Cartwright v.
    State, 
    605 S.W.2d 287
    , 289 (Tex. Crim. App. 1980).
    We have already addressed appellant’s first contention that the amount of restitution
    ordered is unjust and not supported by the record. In an earlier opinion in this case, we agreed
    that the original $7,000 restitution order was not supported by the evidence. Sanders v. State,
    No. 05-12-01186-CR, 
    2014 WL 465432
    , *2 (Tex. App.—Dallas Feb. 4, 2014, no pet.) (not
    designated for publication). We abated the appeal and remanded to the trial court for a new
    restitution hearing. At that hearing, Samantha Lewis produced evidence that the fair market
    value of her 1999 Jeep Grand Cherokee, which was totaled as a result of the accident, was
    $6,500. She paid $409.15 to get her car out of the pound after the accident and later sold the car
    to a junkyard for $160. She also incurred medical expenses in the amount of $20 and rental car
    expenses of $306.13. Thus the value of Lewis’s car, less the amount she received for it from the
    junkyard, plus her other related expenses, totaled $7,075.28. The trial court issued a new
    restitution order for that amount, and appellant has not raised any new challenge to the evidence
    supporting the new restitution award.     The evidence supports restitution in the amount of
    $7,075.28 as ordered by the trial court on remand, and we modify the trial court’s judgment to
    reflect the new amount.
    We next address appellant’s complaint that the trial court should not have ordered
    restitution to Lewis because Lewis is not a victim of the offense. Appellant asserts DWI does
    not have a victim. The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals has recently rejected this argument.
    See Hanna v. State, No. PD-0876-13, 
    2014 WL 1375456
     (Tex. Crim. App. Apr. 9, 2014).
    –12–
    In Hanna, the defendant pleaded guilty to DWI and was ordered to pay restitution to a
    utility company whose telephone pole he struck and damaged while driving drunk. The court of
    appeals held that restitution was improper because DWI is a victimless crime. Thus, the utility
    company was not a victim of the DWI for which the defendant was convicted. Id. at *1. The
    court of criminal appeals disagreed, concluding that, when appropriate, restitution may be
    ordered in DWI cases. Id. at *5. Nothing in the code of criminal procedure requires, as a
    prerequisite to a restitution order, that a victim be alleged in the charging instrument. Id. The
    statute explicitly says that a defendant may be ordered to make restitution to “any victim of the
    offense.” Id. Thus, any person who suffers property damage or personal injuries as the direct
    result of a defendant’s DWI crime may be entitled to restitution even though that victim is not
    named in the DWI charging instrument. Id. Appellant’s argument that Lewis is not entitled to
    restitution because she was not a victim of the DWI has no merit.
    Appellant’s final complaint regarding restitution is that it was for an offense for which
    she was not criminally responsible. Specifically, appellant contends there was no finding that
    she was at fault for the traffic accident that caused Lewis’s property loss and expenses. Hanna is
    relevant to this issue as well.
    In Hanna, despite ruling that the utility company could be a victim of DWI, the court of
    criminal appeals went on to affirm the court of appeals’s holding that the restitution order was
    improper. The court specified that the State must prove by a preponderance of the evidence that
    the loss was a “but for” result of the criminal offense and resulted proximately, or foreseeably,
    from the offense. Id. at *4. The court concluded there was no evidence to show that the offense
    - the defendant’s intoxicated driving - caused the damage to the utility pole. Id. at *6. The
    defendant pleaded guilty, so there was no evidence presented about “his driving, the accident, or
    his intoxication.” Id. The only evidence about the cause of the accident was the defendant’s
    –13–
    statement that “he must have hit a water puddle which caused him to lose control crashing into
    the pole.” Id. The court held there was not sufficient proof that the defendant’s intoxicated
    driving caused the accident with the pole. Id.
    Unlike Hanna, here there was evidence of appellant’s erratic driving, the way the
    accident occurred, and her intoxication. Lewis saw appellant swerving across the lanes of the
    tollway for an extended time period just prior to the accident. According to Lewis, appellant was
    “barreling down the exit” ramp behind Lewis when she hit Lewis’s car. Lewis could smell
    alcohol coming from appellant’s car. The officer who investigated appellant for DWI at the
    hospital also smelled alcohol and indicated appellant had bloodshot eyes and slurred speech.
    Appellant’s performance on a sobriety test indicated to the officer that appellant did not have
    normal use of her physical and mental faculties due to alcohol. And the blood test results
    confirmed appellant’s intoxication. Although appellant testified at punishment that Lewis cut
    her off, the trial court, as sole judge of the credibility of the witnesses, was free to disregard this
    testimony. While the trial court refused to make a finding of civil fault for the accident, it did
    state that the restitution “flowed from” the DWI. We conclude the State presented evidence from
    which the trial court could have properly determined that appellant’s intoxicated driving caused
    the accident. Accordingly, we overrule appellant’s sixth point of error.
    FINE IMPOSED
    Finally, the State points out in its brief that the amount of the fine in the trial court’s
    judgment does not accurately reflect the fine that was orally pronounced.              The judgment
    imposes a $1,000 fine while the trial court orally imposed a $750 fine. When there is a conflict
    between the oral pronouncement of sentence and the sentence in the written judgment, the oral
    pronouncement controls. Taylor v. State, 
    131 S.W.3d 497
    , 500 (Tex. Crim. App. 2004). This
    Court has the power to correct and reform the judgment of the trial court to make the record
    –14–
    speak the truth when it has the necessary information to do so. Asberry v. State, 
    813 S.W.2d 526
    , 529 (Tex. App.—Dallas 1991, pet. ref’d).        Accordingly, we modify the trial court’s
    judgment to change the amount of the fine from $1,000 to $750.
    As modified, we affirm the trial court’s judgment.
    /Ada Brown/
    ADA BROWN
    JUSTICE
    Do Not Publish
    TEX. R. APP. P. 47
    121186F.U05
    –15–
    S
    Court of Appeals
    Fifth District of Texas at Dallas
    JUDGMENT
    LAURA SANDERS, Appellant                             On Appeal from the County Criminal Court
    No. 1, Dallas County, Texas
    No. 05-12-01186-CR          V.                       Trial Court Cause No. MB10-52665.
    Opinion delivered by Justice Brown.
    THE STATE OF TEXAS, Appellee                         Justices O'Neill and Myers participating.
    Based on the Court’s opinion of this date, the judgment of the trial court is MODIFIED
    1) to reflect that the amount of restitution is $7,075.28 and 2) to change the amount of the fine
    assessed from $1,000 to $750.
    As modified, the judgment is AFFIRMED.
    Judgment entered this 23rd day of April, 2014.
    /Ada Brown/
    ADA BROWN
    JUSTICE
    –16–