ROCKY LEE BARROWS, d/o/b 5-14-1961, of Omaha, Arkansas, was sentenced on Thursday, September 4, 2014, to eight (8) years in the Missouri Department of Corrections for the class B felony of driving while intoxicated. Senior Judge Carr Woods, acting as Taney County Circuit Court Judge, sentenced Barrows after hearing arguments from the Taney County Prosecutor’s Office and Barrows’ lawyer. Barrows had entered a plea of guilty on April 21, 2014, without any plea agreement as to what sentence he would receive.

Missouri State Highway Patrol Trooper K.C. Morris was on routine patrol on Coon Creek Road late December 3, 2010, when he observed a passenger car drive by with a broken side headlamp and broken taillight. The Trooper initiated a traffic stop and made contact with the driver, Rocky Lee Barrows. Barrows told the Trooper that he was not driving, and was just sitting in his car eating chicken. Barrows’ speech was slurred, he was using profanity and spitting while he was talking. Barrows exhibited a strong odor of intoxicants, and was placed under arrest for suspicion of driving while intoxicated. Barrows refused all sobriety tests.

Driving while intoxicated, as a first offense, is normally a class B misdemeanor, and handled by the Associate Circuit Courts. However, because Barrows had four or more intoxication-related traffic convictions, he was charged with a class B felony for being a “chronic” D.W.I. offender. The range of punishment for a class B felony is not less than five (5) years in prison and not more than fifteen (15) years in prison. Barrows had been out of custody on bond until his sentencing on September 4, 2014.