Thursday's Internet Edition, September 02, 2010.
drug-related death
to appeal conviction
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Dean Hensley (left) and Mitch Norris of the Norris Brothers Band rock out during a Friday concert in downtown Spencer. |
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A Spencer woman police said did not act fast enough to help a friend who died of a drug overdose has filed an appeal of her conviction.
Tammy L. Anderson, 39, of 561 Spring Creek Rd. was found guilty of involuntary manslaughter last week in a non-jury trial before Roane Magistrate Jason Bennett.
The misdemeanor charge involved the November 2009 death of Anderson’s friend, 34-year-old Heather Dawn Marks. The Spencer woman was found dead at the home shared by Anderson and her companion, Howard Rader Sharp.
An autopsy from the state medical examiner’s office ruled the death accidental and said it resulted from a combination of fentanyl and other drugs.
The report said although there was no record that she had a prescription for the powerful pain reliever, Marks had a therapeutic concentration of fentanyl in her blood, along with sedatives Xanax and Valium and an antidepressant. With that combination of drugs at the levels found in Marks’ bloodstream, “toxicity would be expected,” the report said.
Morbid obesity was listed as a contributing factor in the death. Marks was 5-9 and weighed 299 lbs., the autopsy said.
After the death, police said Anderson and Sharp reported they had taken Anderson to Ripley earlier that day so she could fill a prescription for Xanax.
They allegedly told police she began taking the pills as they drove back to Spencer and had taken about 20 by the time she passed out in the couple’s living room.
According to a complaint filed by Sgt. Kevin Unger of the Roane Sheriff’s Dept., Anderson later admitted she and Marks smoked a fentanyl pain patch that day. Anderson allegedly told police she flushed the pain patch down the toilet before officers arrived.
Anderson said Marks appeared to be snoring as she tried to administer mouth-to-mouth resuscitation.
Anderson said she also tried CPR while someone went to get the woman’s husband, Doug Marks. She said Marks had passed out on prior occasions and her husband was able to revive her.
Anderson said she administered CPR to Heather Marks for about 40 minutes.
Unger’s complaint said Marks was unresponsive for about an hour before an ambulance was called.
At the trial last Wednesday, assistant prosecutor Drew Patton called Unger to the stand, along with paramedic Rebecca Moore and State Trooper Pete Fisher.
Anderson was represented by former Jackson County prosecutor attorney Shannon Baldwin, who called Dinah Drake Jarvis and Sharp to testify. Anderson also took the stand in her own defense.
In her testimony, Anderson admitted that, before Marks passed out, she helped her smoke fentanyl by providing some aluminum foil and a pen, but Anderson denied ingesting any of the drug herself.
After finding her guilty of involuntary manslaughter, Bennett sentenced Anderson to six months on the charge that carries a maximum penalty of a year in jail.
He also ordered her to pay a $1,000 fine and court costs.
Bennett agreed to stay execution of the sentence and allow Anderson to remain free on bond while her case is appealed to circuit court.
Sharp, now 71, was slated to go on trial on the same charge last month, but Patton moved to dismiss the case because the allegations against him did not fit the manslaughter statue. Bennett granted the motion.
