Kimberly Coates
By Patti Weaver
(Stillwater, Okla.) — For the second time in less than three months, former third-grade teacher Kimberly Simmons Coates has been charged with public intoxication, this time on Nov. 6 in the Payne County Courthouse where she was scheduled to appear before Special District Judge Diane Vaughan on a charge of being intoxicated on Aug. 17 at the Perkins-Tryon Intermediate School.
In her new case filed last week, Coates, 53, of Stillwater, was initially ordered jailed on $2,000 bond by Special District Judge Katherine Thomas pending a court appearance with an attorney on Nov. 28.
However, on Nov. 9 Coates appeared from the Payne County Jail with defense attorney Luke Anthony and by agreement with the prosecution, she was released by Judge Vaughan on a personal recognizance bond into the custody of her husband for transport to an inpatient facility, with a special condition that she successfully complete the program, court records show.
Coates had been arrested on Nov. 6 at 2:55 pm, about an hour after she entered the courthouse while seeming to be intoxicated, Payne County Sheriff’s Deputy Jeff Kramer alleged in an affidavit.
“Kimberly came into the courthouse and was processing through the security checkpoint at the front door. I noticed Kimberly was unstable on her feet. Kimberly’s speech was slow and slurred, with glazed eyes. Kimberly also had an odor of an alcohol upon her person.
“When Kimberly was asked what she was here for, Kimberly stated that she was here for court. I had decided to allow her to attend her court appearance and let her pass through security.
“While Kimberly was going to courtroom 310, I watched the security cameras tracking her movement. As Kimberly was making her way from the second to the third floor, I noticed Kimberly having to use both the railing and the wall to steady herself. When Kimberly reached the top of the stairs and walked to the courtroom, she seemed unsteady and weaving.
“While Kimberly was in court, I went to the courtroom and observed Kimberly. Kimberly and Heath Hix from Court Supervision Services had just come out of the attorney-client room, and Heath informed me he had smelled a strong odor of intoxicating substance on her breath.
“When Kimberly finished in the courtroom, I contacted her on the second floor. While talking to her, Kimberly admitted to having a glass of wine in the morning. I also observed an odor of an alcohol on her breath. I explained to Kimberly that she was under arrest for public intoxication.
“I escorted Kimberly downstairs to the front desk at the security checkpoint, placed handcuffs on her wrists, and escorted Kimberly to the Payne County Jail without incident,” Deputy Kramer alleged in his affidavit.
When Coates had appeared in court at about 2:15 pm on Nov. 6 on her earlier charge of being intoxicated on Aug. 17 at the Perkins-Tryon Intermediate School, Judge Vaughan asked her, “Are you under the influence right now? You are unsteady on your feet.” Coates responded, “I’m nervous. I’m sorry.”
But after the judge ordered Hix, a court official, to immediately report if he smelled alcohol on her breath and he did, the judge vacated Coates’ earlier guilty plea to being intoxicated at the school and ordered her to return to court at 2 pm on Dec. 11.
In her earlier incident, when Perkins-Tryon School Resource Officer Shane Dean had asked Coates 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).
“I asked Kimberly again how much she had to drink. Kimberly stated she drank some wine on her way to work this morning (Aug. 17). Kimberly denied drinking any this afternoon (Aug. 17),” the school resource officer alleged in his affidavit.
Both of Coates’ public intoxication charges are misdemeanors, punishable on conviction by five to 30 days in jail and a fine from $10 to $100, court records show.
