Plea to be heard in DUI death

By Jean Cole
jean@athensnews-courier.com

August 13, 2008 10:42 pm

— An Elkmont man with four previous drunk driving convictions will enter a plea Oct. 23 to a charge of murder by reckless operation of a motor vehicle in connection with a fatal motorcycle wreck two years ago on Easter Ferry Road, an official said.
A grand jury indicted Jerry Allen Joines, 47, of 20974 Easter Ferry Road last year.
Depending on his plea before Circuit Judge Bob Baker, a trial has been set for the week of Oct. 27-31.
Joines is accused of being intoxicated and causing the death of Randall Guy Barksdale, 49, of 20991 Edgewood Road on Aug. 2, 2006, said Limestone County District Attorney Kristi Valls.
Barksdale was killed when his Harley-Davidson motorcycle and Joines’ Dodge Ram pickup truck collided at the intersection of Easter Ferry and Cross Key roads in Limestone County. He was an electrician for Stone & Webster Electrical Contractor at Browns Ferry Nuclear Plant.
Joines’ blood-alcohol content after the wreck was .074, Valls said. State law considers a driver with a blood-alcohol level of .08 percent intoxicated. A driver can test below the legal limit and still be charged with driving under the influence of alcohol and with causing a fatal accident.
“We have to show that he was impaired,” Valls said. “As an adult, he should have known that his conduct in getting behind the wheel of a vehicle could cause serious injury to someone else.”