Vehicular Homicide, DUI, Sufficiency of the Evidence, Merger.  Wright v. State, A10A0459, Georgia Court of Appeal, June 28, 2010.
After crossing the centerline, a head-on collision, and admitting ingesting methadone and Xanax, M. Wright was convicted on two counts of vehicular homicide, two counts of serious injury by vehicle, and DUI drugs less safe.  Wright appealed claiming insufficiency of the evidence, improper similar transactions, and certain counts should have merged.  The Georgia Court of appeals found that a traffic violation is evidence of impairment and the defendant admitted consuming methadone and Xanax which is sufficient evidence of impairment and drug DUI.  What happened to the standard for prescription drugs of incapable of driving safely? The Court found that any similar transaction evidence was harmless.  The Court remanded because Defendant was sentenced for two counts of vehicular homicide (one based on DUI and one based on reckless driving) and there was only one death.