DUI Charge Against O’Neil Dismissed

A driving under the influence charge against Smithville Building Inspector Eugene O’Neil has been dropped.
O’Neil appeared with his attorney Tony Hagan in DeKalb County General Sessions Court Monday before Judge Tiffany Gipson of Jackson County. Judge Gipson is assigned to hear cases in which Judge Bratten Cook, II has a conflict.
Hagan, in a prepared statement to WJLE, said that “In March 2013, Smithville Building Inspector Eugene O’Neil was charged with DUI and other related charges. Today, the State of Tennessee dismissed all charges against Mr. O’Neil,” he wrote.
“Mr. O’Neil would like to thank all of his friends who stood by him during this difficult time,” Hagan concluded.
Assistant District Attorney General Greg Strong told WJLE that “the state could not produce results of the blood test from the TBI crime lab and had no choice but to dismiss the case,” he said.
O’Neil, off duty at the time, was stopped by Trooper Bobby Johnson of the Tennessee Highway Patrol on Friday, March 1. The traffic stop occurred on Golf Club Drive. O’Neil submitted to field sobriety and blood tests, according to Trooper Johnson.