CALHOUN WOMAN ADMITS DRUG USE BEFORE SPENCER COLLISION

(04/28/2018)
By David Hedges, Publisher
The Times Record - Roane County Reporter

A woman who admitted taking tranquilizers before she was involved in a head-on collision in downtown Spencer over a year ago entered a guilty plea Tuesday.

Tammy Lynn Hively, 50, of Orma told Roane Circuit Judge Anita Ashley she had taken Xanax prior to the collision in December 2016.

Two helicopters landed on Black Walnut Avenue after Hively's vehicle struck another car headed in the opposite direction driven by Loretta Lynn Koon, who was airlifted to a Charleston hospital after the accident. Koon survived, but she said she still suffers from injuries stemming from the accident.

Koon survived, but she said she still suffers from injuries stemming from the accident.

Hively initially refused treatment, but later went to the hospital.

Hively entered a "high/low" plea to both a felony charge of DUI resulting in serious bodily injury and a misdemeanor charge of DUI resulting in bodily injury.

If Ashley accepts the plea, Hively will be monitored for a year by a probation officer. If she completes the year without problems, the felony will be dismissed and she will be sentenced on the misdemeanor.

A blood test given to Hively after the accident found no alcohol in her system, although prosecutor Josh Downey said the screening did not test for any drugs. Police said they found prescription bottles from a veterinary clinic in her car after the accident.