Kimberly Coates
By Patti Weaver
(Stillwater, Okla.) — In a strange turn of events, former third-grade teacher Kimberly Simmons Coates has been jailed on suspicion of being intoxicated in Payne County District Court on Monday afternoon — where she had just appeared on a charge of being intoxicated at the Perkins-Tryon Intermediate School on Aug.17.
Coates, 53, of Stillwater, had pleaded guilty Monday to public intoxication at the school for which she was initially given a one-year probationary sentence, a $10 fine, court costs, a substance abuse evaluation, 16 hours of community service, random drug testing, no alcohol on probation, and outpatient after-care at Valley Hope where she had completed a 30-day program.
After hearing prosecutor Sean Webb’s recommended deferred sentence with those conditions, Special District Judge Diane Vaughan asked Coates, “Are you under the influence right now? You are unsteady on your feet.”
Coates responded, “I’m nervous. I’m sorry.”
After the judge adopted the sentence, she told Payne County Drug Court representative Heath Hix to immediately report to her if he smelled alcohol on Coates’ breath.
Moments later, Hix returned to the courtroom and told the judge, “She’s drunker than a skunk.”
The judge then told defense attorney Luke Anthony to bring Coates back into the courtroom to withdraw her guilty plea, which he did. The defense attorney told the judge, “I’ve asked her not to make statements to the court,” regarding her condition. The judge then ordered Coates to return to court at 2 pm on Dec. 11.
Outside the courtroom, this reporter saw three sheriff’s deputies surrounding Coates, who was being taken to the Payne County Jail on suspicion of being intoxicated in the courthouse.
Before Coates was arrested in her original case, School Resource Shane Dean had been contacted by Perkins-Tryon School Superintendent Douglas Ogle at 3:20 pm on Aug. 17 to come to the Intermediate School regarding a teacher’s behavior that appeared to have changed in the afternoon from the morning, an affidavit alleged.
The officer alleged in his affidavit, “I noticed Kimberly had red watery eyes and a thick slurred speech. Kimberly had a hard time completing sentences. Mr. Ogle told her that when he talked to her this morning (on Aug. 17), she acted differently than how she is now. Kimberly said she took some medication last night (Aug. 16) for anxiety but nothing else.
“Kimberly then changed her statement that she took her medication this morning (Aug. 17). Kimberly could not tell me what the prescription was.
Asked if she had anything to drink, “Kimberly said she drank half of a box of wine last night (Aug. 16) and quit drinking at about 3 am this morning (Aug. 17), the affidavit alleged.
After she took a breath test with a portable device, the result “confirmed my suspicion that alcohol was present,” the school resource officer alleged in his affidavit.
“I asked Kimberly again how much she had to drink. Kimberly stated she drank some wine of her way to work this morning (Aug. 17). Kimberly denied drinking any this afternoon (Aug. 17).
“Mr. Ogle brought back a bag of Kimberly’s belongings, along with a blue plastic cup that had red liquid in it that had the odor of an alcoholic beverage that I believed to be wine. Kimberly stated she drank out of that cup yesterday (Aug. 16) and not today (Aug. 17),” the school resource officer alleged in his affidavit.
During her arrest for public intoxication at school, “I could smell an odor of an alcoholic beverage coming from Kimberly’s person,” the officer alleged in his affidavit.
