Lawyers appeal blood-alcohol ruling in East Hanover death

Defense lawyers for the woman accused of killing East Hanover community leader Ralph J. Politi Jr. in 2012 have filed an appeal of a ruling that permits prosecutors to use at trial blood and urine samples taken from the suspected drunken driver.

Superior Court Judge Robert Gilson issued a written decision last month that permits Morris County Assistant Prosecutor John McNamara Jr. to use the results of blood and urine tests performed on samples from accused intoxicated driver Vanessa Brown, now 35.

The judge opined that prosecutors had established “exigent circumstances” — a pressing need — that justified the taking of blood and urine samples on May 5, 2012 from Brown without a judge first issuing a warrant.

Defense lawyers Ana Tent and John Caruso, both from the Morris County Office of the Public Defender, want the blood-alcohol readings suppressed and have filed what is called an “interlocutory appeal” with the state’s Appellate Division.

McNamara, for the prosecutor’s office, is opposing the appeal. An interlocutory appeal is a challenge to a trial court’s decision before a case is resolved through trial or plea.

The state’s Appellate Division will review the legal briefs filed by opposing sides and determine whether it will hear a full-fledged appeal. Or, the appeals court could decline to review the case at this stage. Over the past few years, a judge has decided what evidence against Brown would be admissible at trial but some delays have been caused by changes in attorneys representing Brown.

Charged with aggravated manslaughter and vehicular homicide, Brown is accused of drunken driving after her Toyota Camry ran over a curb in East Hanover, striking Politi, 49, as he loaded items into his pickup truck in a parking lot at 30 Ridgedale Avenue. A local girls softball coach and member of the Hanover Park Regional High School Board of Education, Politi died shortly after he was struck.

A blood sample taken without a warrant at a hospital showed that Brown had a blood-alcohol content of .133 percent, or more than the .08 percent limit at which a driver is considered intoxicated in New Jersey. She had a prior DWI which a judge ruled would be admissible at trial to show that Brown was on notice by 2012 of the consequences of driving while intoxicated.

Staff Writer Peggy Wright: 973-267-1142; pwright@GannettNJ.com.