A Pottawatomie County judge has issued an arrest warrant for a Chandler man accused of driving under the influence of alcohol and causing a fatal collisionwith a UCO student from Spring, Texas.
Johnny Lee Morton III, 25, is wanted on complaints of DUI and first degree manslaughter in connection with the 21-year-old student's death on August 10.
According to reports, Morton was driving southbound on U.S. 177 near Shawnee at about 9:20 p.m. when his vehicle crossed the center line and struckanother vehicle head-on.
The driver of the other vehicle died at the scene. A responding Oklahoma Highway Patrol trooper said that Morton appeared to be under the influence ofalcohol. The trooper listed DUI as the cause of the accident.
Morton is charged with first degree manslaughter, a felony, and DUI, a misdemeanor, related to the case. However, he also has two other pending DUI casesfrom Lincoln County, filed in April 2015 and July 2015, with the more recent charge filed as aggravated DUI.
He also has a pending felony case in which he is charged with assault and battery with a dangerous weapon. That case was filed in Lincoln County less thana month ago.
In most cases, a first offense of DUI is charged as a misdemeanor. This means that if a death occurs as the result of the DUI, the impaired driver is typicallycharged with first degree manslaughter. First degree manslaughter is a felony punishable by a minimum of four years in prison.
However, since subsequent acts of DUI are charged as felonies, if a death occurs as a result of felony DUI, the impaired driver is typically charged withsecond degree murder--a felony punishable by 10 years to life in prison.
In this case, it seems as if the alleged impaired driver has escaped a second degree murder charge on the basis of the fact that he has apparently neverbeen convicted of DUI. He has been charged with two other counts of DUI in the last 16 months, he has not been convicted of those offenses.
Bench trial is set in the Lincoln County DUI cases for September 26. He next court date in the assault and battery case is set for October 6.
