Man with no license follows deputy to jail

A man who claimed he was only doing what he was told by an officer of the law will serve 90 days in jail after he opted not to test his version of the story on a jury.

The defendant, William Rains of Chattanooga, entered a guilty plea before Circuit Court Judge Bart Stanley to the charge of violation of the habitual traffic offender status. He was ordered to serve 90 days of a two-year sentence.

His plea came as he was about to go before a jury last week for the Class E felony of violating his habitual traffic offender agreement, which can carry up to two years in prison. A person is declared a habitual offender if he or she has a long list of moving violations such as drunk driving and driving on a revoked license. Rains? record of moving violations dates back to his first recorded DUI in 1985. He was declared a habitual offender and had his license permanently stripped in 1990.

Despite his driving status, lawmen say Rains got behind the wheel of his girlfriend?s pickup after she had her probation violated during a visit to PSI Probation here in McMinnville. It was after the arrest that Rains said he was told by a deputy that he could follow them out to the jail to perhaps bond out his girlfriend. However, at the time the deputy did not ask for Rains? license, nor did he realize Rains was an habitual traffic offender. His girlfriend had driven to her appointment at PSI with Rains as a passenger.

It was when Rains arrived outside Warren County Jail that lawmen learned he was driving without a license while being an HTO. He was placed under arrest for the charges, which brought a cry of foul from his defense.

Specifically, Rains pointed to Tennessee Code Annotated 39-11-610 which reads, in part, that a person is not breaking the law if they believe they are under order by a law enforcement officer to do a certain action. In this case, Rains said he believed he was told by the deputy to follow him to the jail.

While raising the defense in his pre-trial motions, Rains chose not to test the theory on a jury, opting to take the plea bargain and serve the 90 days.