East Hanover sergeant says he didn't 'frame' woman for fatal crash
MORRISTOWN - An East Hanover police sergeant testified Monday that he did not try to "frame" Vanessa E. Brown for the 2012 fatal crash that killed township community leader Ralph Politi Jr. and stuck by his observations that she smelled of alcohol, slurred her speech, and leaned against a building for support.
"Did you frame Vanessa Brown?" Morris County Assistant Prosecutor John McNamara Jr. asked East Hanover records Sgt. John "Jack" Ambrose on Monday, the second day of Ambrose's testimony at Brown's trial on charges of aggravated manslaughter and vehicular homicide. Ambrose said no.
Brown, 35, of Parsippany, is accused of being intoxicated when she drove her Toyota Camry off the travel lane of Ridgedale Avenue on May 5, 2012 and struck the 49-year-old father of twins as he stood between the open front driver's side door and rear door of his Chevrolet pickup. Politi, a township board of education member and recreational softball coach, was parked in a parking space that ran parallel to Ridgedale Avenue and the state's crash reconstruction expert has said he could not specify whether Politi was standing in the parking lot or shoulder of the road when struck.
Defense lawyer Edward Bilinkas, who contends that Brown was not driving recklessly when the crash occurred, tried in the morning to persuade Superior Court Judge Salem Vincent Ahto to suppress evidence of the blood drawn from Brown on May 5, 2012 -- and by extension the conclusion that she had a .133 percent blood alcohol content -- because at some point in the past four years one blood vial broke and oozed out into the plastic bag in which it was contained.
"This is another instance of the evidence in this case being mishandled," Bilinkas charged, outside the presence of the jury. His defense strategy has included suggestions that rumors and misinformation about the crash was rampant, in part because of the popularity of the victim.
WATCH: Vanessa Brown trial enters third week http://dailyre.co/1pk9Tt1
In preparing last Thursday for Ambrose's trial testimony, McNamara opened the sealed box that contained Brown's blood and discovered one glass tube had broken and the blood had spilled into the plastic bag containing the vials. McNamara brought the discovery immediately to the attention of Bilinkas and the judge. Bilinkas then got to examine the evidence and on Monday told the judge he wanted the blood excluded because it had been "compromised."
The judge heard arguments but would not, at least as of Monday, bar the blood. The judge also said that it is up to the Morris County jury whether to accept or reject the blood-alcohol analysis.
SEE ALSO: Morris jury sees footage of fatal East Hanover crash http://dailyre.co/1p3fpQO
McNamara said the current condition of the blood has nothing to do with the blood-alcohol content findings made in 2012 by a scientist for the State Police lab. The scientist had concluded that, two and one-half hours after the 1:48 p.m. crash, Brown had a BAC of .133 percent, or higher than the 0.08 percent level at which a motorist is considered intoxicated.
Bilinkas, who had started his cross-examination last week of Ambrose, on Monday showed him the plastic, blood-soaked bag with the broken vial inside and asked whether he tampered with it.
"I have no idea how it happened," Ambrose said.
Bilinkas, during his opening trial statement on March 2 and throughout cross-examination of Ambrose, has accused the 29-year police veteran of manufacturing observations about signs of intoxication in Brown. Ambrose agreed that other police officers who responded to the scene didn't notice the same signs but he said he stood by his observations.
Ambrose rode in an ambulance with Brown to Morristown Medical Center. Politi, meanwhile, suffered catastrophic injuries to his pelvis and legs and was pronounced dead at the hospital. Ambrose, questioned by Bilinkas, agreed that Brown was "hysterical" and crying when she learned Politi had died.
"You took her to the hospital when she had no injuries," Bilinkas accused. Ambrose disagreed, saying that Brown had complained of pain to her nose and face and had been involved in a very serious crash. The defense lawyer has contended that Ambrose deliberately wanted Brown to go to the hospital so her blood could be drawn for purposes of determining whether she was intoxicated.
READ RELATED STORY: Lead detective in East Hanover fatal denies conflict http://dailyre.co/1pbyZtY
Ambrose also had said that when he arrived on the scene outside 30 Ridgedale Avenue, Brown was sitting and leaning against a side of a building, with her boyfriend near by. Ambrose, in swearing out an affidavit of probable cause for Brown's arrest in 2012, had said she leaned against the building for support when she stood up.
Bilinkas on Monday showed the jury multiple frames from surveillance camera footage and asked Ambrose to show the points at which Brown leaned against the building. The sergeant picked out three images of Brown leaning against a building between 2:17 p.m. and 2:20 p.m. on May 5, 2012.
At least an hour before the crash, Brown had gone to St. Rose of Lima Church in East Hanover to attend a First Holy Communion for a little girl she knows. Bilinkas contends that Brown encountered the child's father -- who she used to date -- and he ordered her out of the church.
MORE COVERAGE: Defense: Road defects, not intoxication, caused East Hanover fatal http://dailyre.co/1SYALv9
Because he has alleged that Brown displayed signs of intoxication at the church, McNamara, the assistant prosecutor, called as a witness East Hanover resident Virginia Taylor, who was selling raffle tickets outside the church while the Communion ceremony was under way. Taylor said she saw a woman she later identified as Brown emerge from the church and they had a conversation.
"She had a slurred speech and she wasn't really stable the way she was walking," Taylor said. She said that Ralph Politi also stopped by the church and spoke with her because he also was selling raffle tickets to benefit the church.
Bilinkas elicited from Taylor that Brown was wearing shoes with very high heels. Taylor also had originally told police she thought Brown might have slurred her speech because she was "nervous." On Monday, she refused to say she didn't smell alcohol on Brown. Instead, she stated: "I wasn't standing close enough to her so I could not smell anything."
The trial is expected to continue Tuesday before Judge Salem Vincent Ahto.
Staff Writer Peggy Wright: 973-267-1142; pwright@GannettNJ.com.
SEE ALSO:
VIDEO: Vanessa Brown trial, opening statements