La Plata, MD – A Charles County jury found a Waldorf man guilty of driving while intoxicated and driving under the influence related to a Sept. 19, 2013 incident before Charles County Circuit Court Judge Thomas R. Simpson Jr. Friday, Feb. 27.

Timothy Dante Wall, 33 of Waldorf, was found in the middle of Industrial Park Drive at 3 a.m. that September morning, engine running, car in drive with its brake lights on.

Lieutenant Bob Keisel of the Charles County Sheriff’s Office, just off duty, was heading home when he came across Waul’s car in the middle of the road. Keisel said he found the defendant incoherent, slumped across the wheel, covered in vomit with a cheeseburger in his lap.

The officer testified he put the car in park and turned the ignition off before trying to awaken the defendant.

“I tried to waken the driver,” he said. “There was a strong odor of alcohol as well as throw up. It took me some time to arouse him from his slumber. I asked him if he knew where he was, and he told me he was in Fort Washington.”

Keisel added he’d just gotten off duty and when two other officers arrived he stepped back and allowed them to take over.

Officer Andrew Finland testified that he performed standard sobriety tests on Waul at the scene and demonstrated for Charles County Assistant State’s Attorney Brandon M. Northington and the jury, that the hand-eye coordination test used to determine if a subject is inebriated would indicate alcohol if the person’s eyes jumped.

“They wouldn’t follow [the finger] smoothly,” Finland said. “I did see the jumping of the eyes. The defendant’s eyes were jumping the entire test.”

The officer testified that Waul could not perform the “walk and turn test” of nine steps heel to toe before turning and walking back to the officer the same way.

“The defendant failed the test,” Finland said. “Six of the eight clues that determine if a subject is intoxicated, he failed.”

Waul’s attorney, Makeba Gibbs, attempted to persuade the jury that her client has problems with his legs and that the heel to toe test was difficult for him because of his handicap.

The jury returned its verdict before closing time at the court house.

Contact Joseph Norris at joe.norris@thebaynet.com

Artwork by Joseph Norris