Autopsy shows youth had alcohol in system

CRASH KILLED FOUR: But experts say Sean Leonard was not legally impaired
By DALE WHITE
dale. white@heraldtribune.com

SARASOTA COUNTY - An autopsy report shows that the driver of an SUV that crashed in
March, killing him and three other teenagers, had alcohol and marijuana in his system at the
time of the wreck. Yet experts say the results do not indicate that Sean Leonard, 19, was legally impaired. About 5:30 a.m. on March 13, Leonard lost control of a Chevrolet TrailBlazer while driving eastbound on Wilkinson Road. The Florida Highway Patrol, which is still investigating the accident, determined that the SUV was traveling at 99 mph when Leonard failed to negotiate a curve.
The vehicle veered into an oncoming lane, jumped a curb and rolled into a concrete block wall
at Marcott Circle. Also killed were Leonard's three passengers: Andrew Monroe, 19; Kelly Janis, 15; and Leonard's sister, Jessica Leonard, 14.
Dr. Russell Vega, the medical examiner, and Dr. Wilson A. Broussard, who conducted the autopsies, were unavailable for comment Monday. Yet two independent pathologists agreed that the findings do not show that Leonard - whose alcohol level was .01 and .03 in separate tests - was legally intoxicated. Dr. Thomas W. Young, a former medical examiner in Missouri who is a forensic consultant in court cases, described Leonard's alcohol level as "very low" if it was at .01.
In Florida, a driver with a blood-alcohol level of .08 is considered intoxicated.
In Florida, where the legal drinking age is 21, state law is more strict for underage drivers.
According to the Florida Department of Motor Vehicles, any driver under 21 whose alcohol level is .02 or above faces a license suspension for six months. Separate tests show ''byproducts of smoking marijuana" in Leonard's blood, Young said. But the pathologist regarded the amounts of
THC, the hallucinogenic substance in marijuana, to be "not particularly meaningful" and inconclusive as to whether Leonard was high during the wreck. Marijuana byproducts can stay
in the body long after the drug was used, he said. Dr. Stephen Godfrey, also a pathologist and
court expert in Missouri, said Leonard's THC levels show "some cannabis use in the last 24 to 48 hours." Passenger Andrew Monroe,19, had a blood-alcohol level of .13; his liver also tested positive for traces of cannabis, the medical examiner's report stated. Rear-seat passenger Kelly Janis had a blood alcohol level of .05, but no traces of cannabis.
No alcohol or cannabis was found in tests of the other rear-seat passenger, Jessica Leonard.
The accident caused a wave of mourning across the region among young people and adults who
knew the four teenagers. The two girls both attended Sarasota Military Academy. Leonard and
Monroe graduated from Riverview High School in 2010. Monroe's family declined to comment Monday, noting that the FHP had previously said alcohol was not considered a factor in the crash. Calls to the Leonard and Janis homes were not returned.

Sarasota Herald Tribune
Sarasota County
May 24, 2011

Vernon woman among Panama City crash injuries

Vernon woman among Panama City crash injuries
By Felicia Kitzmiller
Florida Freedom Newspapers

PANAMA CITY BEACH- Two people were seriously injured in a multi-vehicle wreck at the intersection of Back Beach Road and Hills Road early Thursday morning. According to a crash report from the Panama City Beach Police Department, Jamison Thomas-Earl Wood was intoxicated when he crashed into the rear of two motorcycles waiting to turn onto Back Beach Road (U.S. 98) at the stop sign on Hills Road. Matthew Tomasello, 24, of Mattoon, Ill., and Christie Michelle Anderson, 21, of Gainesville, were thrown from Tomasello's 2009 Kawasaki
motorcycle when they were hit by Wood, the report said. The second motorcycle, driven by Zachary Major, age unknown, of Vernon, and also ridden by passenger Kaitlyn Dover, 18, of
Murrayville, Ga., was struck either by Wood's vehicle or Tomasello's motorcycle.
None of the motorcyclists were wearing helmets. After hitting the motorcycles, police said Wood's vehicle, a 1996 Dodge pickup, continued into the intersection, striking a car traveling
east on Back Beach Road occupied by 21-year-old Wesley Pickenpaugh and 19-year-old Coralanne Embroski, both of Greenwood Circle in Panama City Beach. The car traveled into the
median, where it flipped "one or two times," and landed on its roof, the report said. Wood, 23, of Pinewood Drive in Panama City Beach, had a blood alcohol level of 0.196 and was charged with
driving under the influence, open container, driving with a suspended license, driving with an expired registration and failing to stop at a stop sign.
Tomasello and Pickenpaugh were taken by ambulance to Bay Medical Center. Tomasello's condition was not immediately available and Pickenpaugh was listed in serious condition in the intensive care unit.

Washington County News
Chipley
May 28, 2011

Softball coach gets four years in prison in fatal wreck

Man who was intoxicated says he’s ‘truly sorry’
BY TOM BRENNAN
The Tampa Tribune

Tampa- The coach had belted down a half-dozen beers and a couple of tequila shots at the holiday dessert social for his girls softball team. Team parents became so concerned they decided to snatch his keys, but Paul Michael Parks had sneaked out behind the wheel of his GMC pickup. About a mile away, Parks rammed head-on into a Jeep driven by Karen Weaver, who was heading home from a yuletide party on Big Bend Road. Parks never noticed the road had gone from four lanes to two and that he was driving into oncoming traffic. Weaver, 47, of Riverview, was killed. Parks, 37, pleaded guilty Thursday to driving under the influence-manslaughter in the wreck, which happened about 11:30 p.m. Dec. 19, 2009. Tests showed his blood alcohol content was 0.218, deputies said. Florida law presumes intoxication at 0.08. Hillsborough Circuit Judge Manuel A. Lopez sentenced Parks to four years in prison followed by 10 years of probation. It was the minimum punishment he could impose. Parks’ guilty plea came without any deal with prosecutors. Although sentencing guidelines called for at least 10 years in prison, Lopez said he was impressed by the parade of witnesses who spoke on Parks’ behalf, including his wife, friends, ministers and former co-workers and boss. “It was out of character for him,” the judge said. “He has shown tremendous remorse. I think he learned a great deal from this.” Parks, who had been free on $25,000 bail since turning himself in to authorities in January 2010, also spoke before being sentenced. “I am truly sorry for what happened,” he said. “I awake every day with a hole in my soul.” Parks denied having a drinking problem, although he said he swore off alcohol after the crash and has attended Alcoholic Anonymous meetings twice weekly. He said the meetings made him feel better because other people were worse off, not having the support he has received. None of Weaver’s family spoke at the sentencing. Prosecutors said Weaver’s brother, Charles Grant, was caring for his ill mother. A victim’s advocate read a letter from Grant, who asked Lopez not to give Parks any breaks. “He snuck out of that party,” Grant wrote, “he knew what he was doing.”
tbrennan@tampatrib.com
(813) 259-7698

Before deadly crash, car hit 89 mph

A DUI report says a dentist was speeding the night he struck and killed two people. BY DAN SULLIVAN Times Staff Writer TAMPA - Seconds before crashing into pedestrians on the Harbour Island Bridge last fall, killing two, a Riverview dentist hit a top speed of 89 mph, prose­cutors learned. Matthew ,Moye's blood alcohol level — 0.13 percent — exceeded the level at which the state pre­sumes impair­ment, records show."I'm the designated driver tonight," he said at the scene, accord­ing to a police dashboard cam­era. "I was driving those two girls around after having a party. I haven't had anything to drink." Those were among the details included in documents, video and audio files released Mon­day by the Hillsborough County State Attorney's Office in the case against Moye, 35. He is charged with causing the deaths of Douglas Kozar and Kate Kohlier, who were on a bridge sidewalk early Oct. 30 when Moye's 2011 Cadillac coupe spun out of control and hit them, authorities said. A third pedes­trian broke an ankle jumping out of the way. The three had just left work at the Marriott Waterside Hotel. The records depict a bloody and chaotic scene. Kohlier, 24, died of head inju­ries after she was slammed against the bridge's wall. The impact threw Kozar, 23, over the wall, and he landed in a "rope­like retaining fence," the Medi­cal Examiner's Office reported. Heart lacerated, he died at the scene. A data recorder that police recovered from the Cadillac put the car's speed at 89 mph sec­onds before the crash. The speed limit on the bridge is 30 mph. Twelve weeks earlier, Moye had been cited for driving 90 mph in a 45 mph zone. He pleaded no contest, paid $341 and attended the Advanced Defensive Driving School, county records show. That was his seventh speeding ticket, state records show. The night of the fatal crash, Moye had two people with him in the car: his wife, Kelly and a friend, Rachel Sady, both employees of his dental practice. The three had attended a Hal­loween party at the Sheraton Hotel staged by 13 Ugly Men, a Tampa social and charitable group. Moye’s wife told investigators that the party was "lame" and that the three were headed to another party at Jackson's Bistro. Officers noted that Moye wore black contact lenses as part of a Halloween costume. Outside the contacts, his eyes appeared red and bloodshot the report said His breath smelled of alcohol. Moye refused to take a breath test, police reported. At the scene, he was initially unaware anyone had been hurt An officer wrote in his report that Moye became argumentative. "Why do you keep looking at me?" Moye reportedly said. "I didn't do anything wrong. All I did was pass a cab and lose con­trol." Kelly Moye sat on a bench and complained about damage to the car, the report stated It's unclear whether anyone told her about victims. "I told Matt not to drive," she told police. “I told him he shouldn't of drove. But look at my car. ... My poor hundred thousand car is totaled I worked so hard for that" Matthew Moye began to fight with police officers, hitting an officer's hand and pushing his chest, the report said. Officers wrestled him to the ground and put him in handcuffs. His wife jumped on an offi­cer's back and was also hand­cuffed, the report said. The pas­senger, Sady, was handcuffed after she tried to walk away. Nei­ther woman has been charged. In statements to detectives, the two said they did not remem­ber much about the crash. They said they had not seen Moye drink that night "Honestly, I drank more than probably everyone else in the car," Kelly Moye said, "so I really don't know what happened." Her husband faces seven charges: two counts each of vehicular homicide, DUI man­slaughter and DUI with prop­erty damage or personal injury, and one count of battery on a law enforcement officer. No trial date has been set. While the criminal case is pending, a judge ordered Moye not to drive or consume alcohol, and to remain home between the hours of 7 p.m. and 7a.m. He is still a practicing dentist with an active license. At the crash scene, after he was read his rights, Moye complained profanely, about his treatment by police and said he planned to sue, according to video. His demeanor changed when, finally, an officer told him that two people had died in the acci­dent. "Are you serious?" Moye asked "I'm very serious," the officer responded. The officer started to explain that Moye would be required to submit to a blood draw. "You're kidding me," Moye said The officer said he knew it was a shock. "It's a HUGE shock," Moye said Staff writers Colleen Jenkins. Jessica Va nder Velde and Alexandra Zayas and items researcher John Martin contributed to this report. St Petersburg Times Pinellas County March 1, 2011

Police in Ocala, Florida took notice early Tuesday morning of a naked motorcyclist's erratic riding

Mike Rolls, Marion County sheriff's captain, was on duty when he passed a nude man riding a silver motorcycle near Ocala's Interstate 75 nearly thirty minutes after midnight, the Associated Press reports. "I thought the driver of the motorcycle was not wearing clothing," Rolls reported as he began his pursuit.

When the bare rider drove through a red light, the police officer pulled the man over and later identified him as Dante Krauss.

Krauss, 45-year-old, reported that he didn't know where he had been that night, and had no explanation for his nakedness. He did, however, admit to having a few drinks.

After providing the streaking biker with a shirt and shawl, Rolls placed the man under arrest and brought him to the Marion County Jail, where authorities say Kraus registered a .178 blood-alcohol concentration.

Krauss was charged with his fifth DUI, and was later released on $20,000 bail.

Research by Mothers Against Drunk Driving estimates that one arrest for DUI is made for every 88 episodes of driving with a blood-alcohol concentration that is over the U.S. legal limit.

For more information please visit: http://www.avvo.com/news/naked-motorcyclist-collects-fifth-dui-452.html

If you've been involved in a motorcycle accident please call our office 24/7 for a free case evaluation. 1-866-LAW-FRAN - for more information please visit http://www.lawfran.com