Photo: Carol Boviall
The trial of a Norfork woman alleged to have backed her vehicle over a teenage brother and sister waiting on a school bus in early November last year has been continued yet again.
Gray Dellinger of Melbourne, the attorney for 58-year-old Carol Boviall, has asked that her trial be put off until late January. In September, Dellinger said his client would waive a jury trial, meaning her case will be heard by a judge only. Boviall was set to go on trial in Baxter County Circuit Court Thursday. There have been a number of continuances granted in the case.
According to court records, Dellinger has a pending motion to suppress evidence in the case in which he is asking the court not to admit results of a blood test because Boviall had not given consent and no search warrant had been obtained for taking the blood. Dellinger asserted in his motion the warrantless blood draw was a violation of Bovialls constitutional protection against unreasonable search and seizure.
Investigators reported a “voluntary blood sample” was taken from Boviall shortly after the 2018 accident and sent to the Arkansas State Crime Laboratory. The lab reported the blood tested positive for methamphetamine. Court records contain an Arkansas Statement of Rights form which does seem to indicate Boviall agreed to the blood test and turned down an opportunity to have a second test run at her own expense.
In a decision in April last year, the Arkansas Supreme Court reversed the negligent homicide conviction of an Independence County man based on a warrantless blood draw and ordered a new trial in which the court directed the blood evidence not be admitted. Arkansas’s implied consent law says anyone operating a vehicle in the state is deemed to have consented to certain types of DWI testing. A warrant is required, however, to obtain a blood sample.
Dellinger told the court Thursday he would be filing another motion in the case in the next few days.
According to the probable cause affidavit, Boviall was reported to have been at her sons home in Norfork on the day of the incident when some sort of argument allegedly broke out. The defendant was reported to have left her sons residence in a hurried manner, backing her SUV onto Main Street and traveling almost 53 feet backward before running into the two teens standing at their normal school bus stop.
A third child is reported to have run up to Bovialls vehicle and screamed at her to pull up because the brother and sister were pinned under the SUV. The third child said Boviall did not seem totally aware she had hit the teens. The brother and sister were taken to Baxter Regional Medical Center by ambulance for treatment of their injuries.
The mother of the two students said her then 15-year-old son suffered a broken collarbone, nose and septum – all of which had to be surgically repaired. The then 13-year old daughter suffered a shoulder injury and a muscle tear. Both of the teens were referred to the Neurology Unit at Arkansas Childrens Hospital in Little Rock. The daughter was reported to have suffered seizures after the incident.
Boviall is charged with two counts of first-degree battery, driving while intoxicated and careless and prohibited driving. The latter two charges are misdemeanors.
According to an incident report filed by the Baxter County Sheriffs Office in mid-September, Boviall is alleged to have violated a no contact order prohibiting her from interacting with the two teens and their family.
It was reported Boviall and a male companion had been near the familys residence loudly revving the engine of the pickup truck they were in. The male was also reported to have yelled profanities at the mother of the victims.
The mother said she reminded the man driving the truck and Boviall about the no contact order that was in place.
Boviall was alleged to have given an incorrect interpretation of the law in a loud voice. She was alleged to have said the no contact order had been issued against her, but there was no such order against the male in the truck with her. She was reported to have said the man could do whatever he pleased.
Boviall seemed to overlook the fact she was in the same truck with the man and sitting the same distance from the house and was communicating with the mother of the victim – all of which did violate the order.
After the demonstration of engine revving and the verbal exchange with the mother of the victims, Boviall and the male were reported to have driven off.
Earlier, Boviall also ran afoul of the law when she was booked into the Baxter County Detention Center on charges of driving while her license was suspended for DWI and having no proof of liability insurance.
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