BY JAMES WILLIAMS
Special to the Telegraph
STARKE—A Bradford County jury acquitted a 39-year-old Lawtey man on a DUI charge after he and his wife testified that he drank whiskey after he crashed his ATV and that his crash was caused by post-traumatic stress disorder.
One witness said she saw Terry Dean Stokes drive his Honda Pioneer off the roadway on Aug. 28, 2022, striking a ditch and flipping the four-wheeler over.
Stokes walked back to his County Road 225A residence and was in the shower when FHP troopers arrived around 15 minutes later.
Trooper Jonathan Mobley told jurors that he saw multiple Fireball and whiskey bottles around the ATV, which had been taken back to the defendant’s home.
Wife: He regularly drinks whiskey in the shower
Melissa Stokes testified that her husband collects empty bottles for months and turns them into strings of lights he gives to friends at the Hog Waller turkey bog at Christmas each year. She said she had noticed empty Fireball, water, and soda cans and bottles in the ATV or their driveway on the evening in question, but they were not indicative of her partner’s drinking that night. She added that he regularly drinks whiskey shots in the shower.
Stokes was not charged with a DUI at the scene of a crash, despite the fact that a bystander, two Highway Patrol Officers, and attending medical technicians said during the incident that he smelled strongly of alcohol.
Behaviors mirrored PTSD
Dr. George Restea of Keystone Heights and North Florida Hospital submitted testimony to say some of the defendant’s behaviors that night mirrored a Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder event.
Stokes had been treated at the VA for PTSD, a result of his military assignments in Afghanistan. However, Restea was not his attending physician. Nor does the Federal Government allow VA physicians to testify for or against their patients, fearing violation of HIPAA laws.
“I’ve had enough”
The incident was witnessed by Department of Corrections Officer Kaye Lynn Sargent, who was off duty and leaving the Kerr farmhouse auction in Lawtey when she witnessed Stokes’ ATV leave the road. She screamed to persons nearby to call 911 and tried to keep Stokes still and quiet. But after waking from a moment of unconsciousness, Stokes fought her attempts to improvise a neck brace and apply first aid until Sargent said, “I’ve had enough,” and backed off. Stokes stood and walked to his home, which was nearby.
Shortly after that, Bradford Paramedic Lt. Ashley Rule and her EMT partner arrived with an ambulance at the Stokes home, which is near the scene of the incident. Stokes was in the shower.
Trying to talk Stokes into going to a hospital to see about his injuries, Rule observed the laceration above his eyebrow and other abrasions and bruises on his body. Stokes ranked the pain in his head at an 8 on a 1 to 10 scale. He moved about of his own accord.
Covering Bradford, Baker, and Union Counties, Trooper Jonathan Mobley was called to the scene at Lawtey. He did not see Stokes but did encounter his wife and an “independent witness.” He observed the wrecked Honda Pioneer, now parked in Stokes’ driveway, surrounded by multiple empty Fireball and whiskey bottles.
Mobley testified that he finished the original preliminary crash report and issued a ticket for careless driving on the evening of the incident. However, his final report and DUI citations were not issued until Dec. 13, 2022, after further investigations of the incident were complete. The trial itself was not held until November 2023.
“He gets very anxious”
Melissa Stokes testified that she had seen her husband “act out” many times during their 10-year relationship.
“He gets very anxious,” she said. “He gets claustrophobic very quickly. He acts irrationally. He’s very impulsive. For example, if we’re stuck in traffic, he drives over the median just to get out of a certain situation. I mean, he just tries to run away.”
The defendant was at the auction when she came home that day, but when he returned home, he stripped down to his underwear. This, she said, was a sign that his PTSD was “triggered” and he was “acting out.” He told her he needed to go back to the auction to pay his bill. She drove him to the auction in his boxers to pay, but their vehicle was hemmed in in the parking lot, and they couldn’t get out. Terry Stokes drove the ATV and got them out, after that, he took Melissa home. When she got out, she heard the 4-wheeler take off again behind her and, a moment later, heard the crash.
