Larry Quirt Lemmons received a maximum sentence of two years in state jail Thursday after a 71st District Court jury found him guilty of criminally negligent homicide.

Lemmons, 55, of Harleton was tried in conjunction with the June 16, 2006, death of James Michael Chatterton, 22.

The five-man, seven-woman panel deliberated for about 15 minutes before finding Lemmons guilty and spent another 20 minutes determining punishment.

District Attorney Joe Black called the victim's mother, Vicki Chatterton, as his first witness. She said her son lived off Farm-to-Market Road 449 and was on his way to his job as assistant manager of Rent-A-Center in Marshall at about 8:30 a.m. on the day of the fatal accident.

Bobby Johnson, a plumber from Gilmer said he was also traveling the road that morning and "rounded a curve" to see "steam coming up. I knew there had been a wreck," he said.

Both vehicles were facing south when he came up on them, Johnson said, adding he first went to the maroon 2000 Mercury Sable and saw Lemmons inside. "He was moaning.

"I then went to the silver car," a 2000 Geo Prizm. "He didn't look like he was breathing. I called 911 and told them there had been a wreck and I believed one of the people was dead."

Texas Department of Public Safety Trooper Richard "Buck" Buchanan testified he was the first officer on the scene.

The collision was head-on, and at the time of the impact, Lemmons was travelling west in the east-bound lane of the two lane highway, Buchanan said.

Not only had the Mercury crossed over the double yellow stripe, which indicates a no-passing zone, but it was all the way over to the white line where the east-bound lane joins the right-of-way.

Buchanan said it appeared Lemmons was "starting to go off the roadway into the ditch" before the impact. Skid marks indicated Lemmons "attempted to hit the brakes" before he collided with Chatterton's car.

Buchanan said Lemmons spoke to him as he approached his vehicle and said: "I think I spilled my coffee."

"The car was so destroyed, with fluids everywhere, I was unable to tell if there was coffee in there," the trooper said.

Black had Buchanan read from Chatterton's death certificate, which said the victim died immediately from a "closed head injury."

Buchanan remained adamant that Lemmons was in control of the vehicle at the time of the wreck, although defense attorney Brian Walker questioned him as to the possibility of his client having had a seizure, having passed out, or having swerved to miss something in the roadway.

Buchanan agreed that could have been the case. "There is even the possibility that he may have been trying to commit suicide," the trooper said.

And when Black questioned Buchanan on redirect, the DA asked: "Trooper, isn't there a possibility, too, that the Energizer Bunny was in the middle of the road?"

"Yes," Buchanan replied.

Lemmons took the stand in his own defense, saying he remembered leaving his house in the rental car and taking a cup of coffee with him. "I was drinking coffee and driving. The next thing I knew, I woke up in the hospital two weeks later.

"I have no idea what happened that morning. I'm seeing things today (regarding the wreck) for the first time."

Black said Lemmons had no driver's license at the time, as it had been suspended for a period of a year beginning Feb. 14, 2006.

"He had two prior DWI (driving while intoxicated) convictions and had a prior felony conviction for theft from 1990," the DA said. There was also a theft of a firearm conviction in 1999, and Black said, Lemmons was on probation when the wreck occurred.

"We ran blood tests, but there was no alcohol in his system," Black added. "There were some narcotics — prescription medications — but they were extremely low amounts. We had it checked by a forensic pharmacologist who said it could have been residue from having taken medication a couple of days earlier, but it was not enough for intoxication."

For that reason, Black said, Lemmons could not be tried for the more serious crime of intoxication manslaughter.

Contact Sandra Cason: scason@coxmnm.com or 903-927-5969.