Court denies appeals of DWI murder charge
By Chuck Lindell | Wednesday, November 4, 2009, 09:57 AM


The state�s highest criminal court denied two appeals today by Craig Alan Poth (pictured at right), a repeat drunk driver sentenced to 50 years in prison for killing a grandmother in a 2006 wreck.

The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals declined Poth�s appeals without elaborating.

Carolyn Bowles, 54, was driving on FM 1626 in southern Travis County when Poth drove his Honda into oncoming traffic, slamming head-on into Bowles� Cadillac. Poth�s blood alcohol level was more than twice the legal limit.

Poth, a Smithville resident with three prior drunken-driving convictions, pleaded guilty to murder in 2007. He also pleaded guilty to intoxication assault for injuring his passenger in the same wreck.

Before his trial, Poth�s murder charge was dismissed in favor of intoxication manslaughter, a second-degree felony. The murder charge was reinstated when the Court of Criminal Appeals, in a 6-2 decision, upheld DWI murder charges for defendants with at least two prior drunken-driving convictions.

Story is here http://www.statesman.com/blogs/content/shared-gen/blogs/austin/courts/entries/2009/11/04/court_denies_appeals_of_dwi_mu.html

The case was denied by the CCA without written order.