By Jeff Lehr
Globe Staff Writer
JOPLIN, Mo. —
A Joplin man, who pleaded guilty to felony assault in connection with an alcohol-related accident one year ago, was assessed a suspended sentence Monday in Jasper County Circuit Court.
Larry L. Martin II, 46, was sentenced by Circuit Judge Gayle Crane to five years in prison for second-degree vehicular assault. Crane suspended execution of the sentence and placed the defendant on probation for five years. Martin pleaded guilty in June in a plea bargain that limited his potential prison sentence to five years.
Court records show that Martin had three drunken-driving convictions before being charged with the assault after a two-vehicle crash Aug. 27, 2009, on Missouri Highway 43, south of Ivy Road.
The driver of the other vehicle, Amber M. Karcher, suffered a concussion and bruising, according to a probable-cause affidavit signed by a Missouri State Highway Patrol trooper who investigated the accident.
The affidavit states that Martin was driving a southbound pickup truck that crossed the centerline and forced Karcher to swerve in her northbound vehicle in an attempt to avoid a collision. The two vehicles crashed, and both drivers were injured.
The state trooper wrote in the affidavit that Martin’s eyes appeared bloodshot and glassy, and that he had a strong odor of intoxicants on his breath as he was being prepared for transport from the scene of the crash. He failed one field sobriety test and refused a breath test before being taken to a hospital, where a blood sample was obtained for testing, the affidavit states.
An investigation showed that Martin’s vehicle was believed to have been involved in a series of hit-and-run incidents in Oronogo before the crash on Highway 43, and he was being sought by the JasCo Metropolitan Police Department.
The state trooper listed Martin’s prior convictions as having taken place in 1998 and 1999 in Jasper County, and in 1994 in Texas.
