"Not Guilty" in DUI Aggravated Vehicular Homicide Trial

After a 1 week jury trial, a Franklin County, Ohio jury returned a "Not Guilty" verdict in an Aggravated Vehicular Homicide trial finding that our client's alleged intoxication was not the proximate cause of the accident resulting in a tragic death.

Our client was indicted on 2 counts of Aggravated Vehicular Homicide in 2007. The first count alleged that the death was the result of our client's alleged intoxication. The second count alleged that the death was the result of our client operating his vehicle recklessly. Our client tested .171% by breath 2 hours after the tragic accident and his blood test was .104% approximately 5 1/2 hours after the accident.

However, the evidence presented at trial clearly indicated that it was not our client's impairment that caused this accident. After 4 hours of deliberations, the jury returned a "Not Guilty" verdict on the DUI specification but found that our client was "reckless" in his operation of the vehicle which resulted in the accident.

Our client was traveling between 85-91 m.p.h. at the time of impact. The accident investigators and prosecutors never investigated our client's medical condition which was yet to be diagnosed. It was later discovered that our client suffers from an unusual cardiac condition that causes sudden fainting.

The client was represented by Attorney Brad Koffel and Jim Mayer.