Expert: Driver could have been sober at time of fatal crash
MORRISTOWN - A woman on trial for allegedly causing the death of Ralph Politi Jr. in East Hanover by driving while intoxicated could have had a blood-alcohol content double the legal limit or could have been sober if she guzzled three or four drinks in the minutes before the crash, a forensic alcohol consultant testified Thursday.
Dr. John Brick, an alcohol consultant who worked for decades at the Center for Alcohol Studies at Rutgers University, was called by Morris County Assistant Prosecutor John McNamara Jr. to testify as an expert witness in the Superior Court trial of Vanessa E. Brown, 35, of Parsippany. Brown is charged with aggravated manslaughter and vehicular homicide, accused of being drunk when she veered off Ridgedale Avenue in East Hanover on May 5, 2012, and struck Politi, 49, as he stood outside his Chevrolet pickup that was parked in a space parallel to the road.
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Under questioning by McNamara, Brick -- who is expected to be the state's last trial witness -- gave the Morris County jury an extensive overview of how he calculated that Brown's blood-alcohol content was between 0.11 percent and 0.16 percent when the 1:48 p.m. crash occurred. Brown's blood was drawn at Morristown Medical Center two and one-half hours after the crash, and an analysis showed that her BAC was 0.133 percent -- above the state's 0.08 percent level at which a motorist is considered legally intoxicated in New Jersey.
Brick testified that the "relative risk" of a motorist between the ages of 21 and 34 with a 0.08 percent BAC killing himself in a fatal crash is eight times greater than if he were sober. The same motorist is 24 times more at risk than a sober driver to get into a fatal crash if his BAC is 0.11 percent, Brick told jurors. The risk of a driver with a BAC of .016 percent killing himself in a fatal crash is 104 times greater than the risk to a sober person, he said.
But under questioning by defense lawyer Edward Bilinkas, Brick acknowledged that Brown could have downed three to four alcoholic drinks while sitting in her car outside St. Rose of Lima Church in East Hanover, a few minutes before the crash. Brick said Brown's alcohol content would have been negligible at that point because her body would not have begun to absorb the alcohol, but it could have risen to the 0.133 level by the time her blood was drawn.
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Brick also conceded that Brown could have drank in the church parking lot and/or during the short drive to 30 Ridgedale Ave., where the crash occurred, or even in the minutes she sat in her Toyota Camry, unattended, while paramedics and police focused on saving Politi, who died of catastrophic injuries to his pelvis and legs shortly after he was struck.
Brown never gave authorities any information about when she drank or the type of alcohol --- such as beer, wine, or hard liquor, which have different percentages of alcohol.
Besides arguing throughout the three-week trial that police mishandled and misrepresented the evidence, Bilinkas focused Thursday on getting Brick to acknowledge that Brown could have been sober or at most a 0.02 or 0.03 percent level at the moment the crash happened.
"It would play, if anything, a very minor part," Brick said, when Bilinkas asked whether alcohol would be a factor in the crash if Brown ingested it minutes before she crashed into Politi.
In his direct testimony, Brick said it is generally, medically accepted that it takes between 30 and 90 minutes for a person's body to reach maximum alcohol absorption after the last drink is ingested.
Brick used Brown's age, height, weight and the blood-alcohol level determined by a forensic chemist for the New Jersey State Police, and he considered rates of absorption and elimination of alcohol in the body and came up with three scenarios of when Brown drank on May 5, 2012, and then stopped drinking. His calculations, he said, supported the 0.133 percent blood-alcohol content she had when blood was drawn at 4:20 p.m. that day.
Brick said she could have drank a certain amount of alcohol between 9 a.m. and noon -- after which she went to St. Rose of Lima Church to attend the First Communion of a girl she knows. Brick said that Brown could have drank a greater number of alcoholic beverages or drinks with higher volumes of alcohol between 11 a.m. and noon, or she could have drank between noon and 1:30 p.m.
When Bilinkas asked him to explain why he chose seemingly arbitrary points in the day for Brown to have imbibed, Brick said he found "windows" of opportunity for drinking to occur, based upon police reports and witness statements. But Bilinkas pointed out to Brick that he incorrectly stated in his expert report that Brown went to a friend's home around 10 a.m., based upon police reports he reviewed. Bilinkas said Brown was never at that person's home on May 5, 2012.
Ultimately, Brick testified for the state that Brown's alcohol level was between 0.11 percent and 0.16 percent at crash time, yet he agreed with Bilinkas that Brown could have been sober at the moment of impact if she drank close in time to the crash and absorption had not been completed.
Brick will resume his testimony on Monday in the trial before Superior Court Judge Salem Vincent Ahto in Morristown. The state is expected to rest its case Monday, and the defense will call a few witnesses. Closing trial arguments could occur Wednesday.
Staff Writer Peggy Wright: 973-267-1142; pwright@GannettNJ.com.