Judge wants to hear 911 calls in Utah County DUI trial

PROVO — A judge wants more details about 911 calls from observers who reported that a man, who was later arrested, appeared to be drunk when he drove away.

"I'm very interested in hearing the dispatch tape," Judge Claudia Laycock said, Wednesday at a hearing for Robert VanDyke, 42, arrested on Sept. 25 in Spanish Fork and subsequently charged with DUI.

VanDyke has had five DUI or alcohol-related reckless driving charges in the past 10 years. He has also spent time in prison for an automobile homicide conviction in which he killed a mother and injured her daughter.

VanDyke's attorney, Shelden Carter, said he disputes some of the facts leading up to the September arrest.

Even before Laycock mentioned the dispatch tapes, Carter said he had requested them from police and asked for an evidentiary hearing to discuss his concerns about the 911 calls.

"From my view, there are great discrepancies," Carter said. "We need to have those witnesses appear."

Prosecutor Craig Johnson disagreed that the Spanish Fork couple who called police would need to come in and testify. He told the court that he already has the 911 tapes and would be providing copies to Carter and Laycock.

Laycock said she is also interested in hearing from the Spanish Fork officer again to clear up other questions about the initial arrest.

The officer testified at a preliminary hearing last month that VanDyke never left his lane of travel, but that as he was traveling on the inside lane, he saw him pull back "into the travel lane, drift from side to side within the travel lane, travel on the divider line and travel back in the travel lane."

But on cross examination from Carter, Johnson indicated that he had not observed any traffic violations, just moving within the lane of travel.

"The way I read it, he's within his lane of travel, four times of (minor) swerving within his lane of travel within nine blocks," Carter said.

VanDyke later pulled over himself, and the officer pulled in behind him, turned on his lights and conducted an interview. VanDyke refused to do field sobriety tests and because of slurred speech and slow responses was arrested.

VanDyke is in the Utah County jail on $100,000 cash-only bond after missing a previous court hearing. He insisted the no-show was a communication mistake between him and his attorney's office. He will appear in court again Jan. 15.

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