Walmart Heiress Asks To Expunge DWI Arrest
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (CBSDFW.COM/AP) — Walmart heiress Alice Walton is asking that her 2011 arrest in the state for driving while intoxicated be expunged from the records, and prosecutors say her request will likely be granted.
Charges in the case were dropped when the two-year statute of limitations ran out Oct. 7.
The Arkansas Democrat-Gazette reported Sunday that Parker County, Texas, prosecutor John Forrest said he didn't pursue the charge because the state trooper who arrested Walton wasn't available to testify.
The Texas Department of Public Safety said the trooper is suspended pending an internal investigation into allegations of misconduct.
The request is common after charges have been dropped in a misdemeanor case, said Fred Barker, an assistant prosecutor in the county.
"The case is not that credible, which is probably a reason it was laying around for a while," he said.
Barker wouldn't elaborate on the credibility of the case, but he said that a month from now, there may be no record of the arrest ever occurring.
"It will cease to exist for us in any way — literally," Barker said, "We would not even acknowledge it ever existed nor that it was expunged, or that we ever talked to you about it.
"There's really no way to stop it," he said. "Once that's done, it's gone, gone, gone."
Walton, 64, is the daughter of late Walmart founder Sam Walton.
She was returning home to Millsap, Texas, after a dinner with friends on her 62nd birthday when the trooper stopped her vehicle on Oct. 7, 2011, for speeding on Interstate 20 near Weatherford.
The trooper's report said there was the odor of alcohol in her car and that she showed signs of intoxication and refused a breath-alcohol test.
Walton could not balance, stopped while walking and used her arms to balance, the trooper wrote.
"Walton stated, 'I can't do that at any time, I'm not balanced,'" according to the report.
Walton was handcuffed and taken to the Parker County jail in Weatherford before being released on $1,000 bail.
During the investigation, prosecutors obtained two letters that physicians wrote saying that Walton can't walk or maintain balance normally.
The physicians cited a severe motor-vehicle accident in Mexico in November 1983, which led to repeated problems with Walton's left leg, leaving it substantially shorter than her right.
(© Copyright 2013 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)
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