There is no official record of Alice Walton being arrested in Weatherford, Texas, for purportedly driving while intoxicated in 2011.
On Monday, Walton’s case was scheduled for an expunction hearing in Parker County, Texas, District Court.
Fred Barker, an assistant prosecutor in Parker County, said in October that an expunction would likely be granted, and all records pertaining to the case would be destroyed.
“It will cease to exist for us in any way - literally,” Barker wrote in an Oct. 23 letter. “We would not even acknowledge it ever existed nor that it was expunged, or that we ever talked to you about it.”
When asked about the case Monday, Barker said simply, “It’s a criminal offense to discuss any information related to an expunction. As such, we have no information to provide.”
No charges were filed against the Wal-Mart heiress, and the two-year statute of limitations in the case has expired. The Texas Highway Patrol trooper who arrested Walton on Oct. 7, 2011, was suspended and couldn’t testify against her as a result.
In October, Barker said thecase was “not that credible” to begin with, but he wouldn’t elaborate.
Walton wasn’t required to attend the hearing, Barker said last month. She was being represented by Mac Smith, a lawyer in Weatherford. Smith didn’t return a telephone call seeking comment Monday.
Smith filed a petition for expunction with Parker County District Court on Oct. 10. In it, he noted Walton was placed under a “custodial arrest” by the Texas Department of Public Safety for purportedly driving while intoxicated, which is a misdemeanor.
“No information or indictment was ever filed by the state and the statute of limitations for this offense expired on Oct. 7, 2013,” Smith wrote.
Prosecutor John Forrest said he didn’t pursue charges against Walton because Trooper Jeffrey Davis was unavailable to testify in court. Davis was suspended in February pending the outcome of an internal investigation involving misconduct allegations.
Texas Public Safety Department spokesman Tom Vinger said Monday that the internal inquiry was ongoing and that Davis remained suspended.
On Aug. 23, Forrest sent a “notice of non-prosecution” to District Judge Mark Riley, who signed an order Aug. 26 setting aside commitment and releasing Walton from her appearance bond. Based on the document, Walton would be refunded the $1,000 bond she posted when she was released from jail the day after her arrest.
Under Texas Code of Criminal Procedure, Article 55.01(a) (2)(A), Walton is entitled to an expunction of all records and files related to the case, Smith wrote in the petition.
The daughter of the late Wal-Mart Stores Inc. founder Sam Walton, Alice Walton, now 64, was stopped by Davis at 10:04 p.m. on Interstate 20 near Weatherford while driving her silver 2010 Lexus RX 450 at 71 mph in an unattended 55 mph construction zone, according to the records.
Walton told the officer that she had dinner with friends for her birthday and was driving home to Mineral Wells, Texas, about 19 miles to the east. Walton told Davis she’d had two glasses of wine with dinner, records state.
Walton was taken to the Parker County jail in Weatherford, where she was detained from 11:12 p.m. Oct. 7 to 8:39 a.m. Oct. 8, 2011.
Walton refused to take a breath test. A blood-alcohol content at or above 0.08 is considered legally intoxicated under Texas law.
Davis arrested Walton based on her performance in field-sobriety tests, records state. Walton told Davis she has an injured leg and couldn’t perform the balance tests under any circumstances.
During the investigation of the case, prosecutors obtained two letters that physicians wrote Oct. 31, 2011, to Walton’s attorney, Dee J. Kelly of Fort Worth, saying Walton can’t walk or maintain balance normally, according to reports.
Walton’s arrest occurred a month before the opening of Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art in Bentonville, which she founded.
In May 1998, Walton was found guilty of drunken driving by a Springdale Municipal Court judge after a Jan. 27 accident in which she crashed her 1998 Toyota 4Runner on a rural road near her home in Lowell, according to previous Arkansas Democrat-Gazette reports.
And, in 1989, Walton’s vehicle struck and killed a 50-year old woman who had stepped out into traffic on Arkansas 265. Police said Walton was not at fault, and they issued no citations, according to reports.
Walton is the eighth-richest person in the United States, with a net worth of $33.5 billion, according to Forbes magazine.
Information for this article was contributed by Ryan McGeeney of the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette.
Arkansas, Pages 9 on 12/03/2013