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A Utah man facing felony charges for driving down Highway 40 the wrong way while drunk will get a free pass because his case has been dropped. A tragedy will allow this man to walk away from those charges. But there is nothing the prosecutor or sheriff's office can do.
Robert Sneed is getting another chance. Sneed's already had two previous misdemeanor DUI convictions. His most recent is a felony, according to court documents.
Sneed was caught riding his Harley westbound in the eastbound lane on a stretch of Highway 40 near Heber City in June. According to a DUI report obtained through a GRAMA request, Sneed smelled of alcohol and admitted to drinking "a couple of glasses of wine."
Sneed took a breathalyzer test. The report says he blew a 0.104, which is well above the state's legal limit of 0.08.
Wasatch County Attorney Thomas Low says, "I am disappointed that we couldn't prosecute it." Low can't prosecute the case because his star witness, the man who arrested Sneed, Sgt. Scott Hathcock, died unexpectedly last month.
"We investigated to see if any other officers could testify, if they were present at the scene, could have viewed the field sobriety test or the driving pattern or other things. There were none," Low says.
There were none because Hathcock stood out as an expert in DUI-related cases, but he tragically died in August when he suddenly collapsed during a traffic stop. Low worked with Hathcock on cases for nine years and calls him a stellar sergeant.
"Sgt. Hathcock was famous in our circles for his willingness to stick to a case until the very end," Low told us.
Low says, ironically, it won't be this one.
We contacted Sneed's attorney's office for a comment but our calls were not returned.
As for any other cases that may be affected by Sgt. Hathcock's death? The Wasatch County Attorney says maybe a few misdemeanor cases but nothing as serious as Sneed's case.
E-mail: lprichard@ksl.com
