Case vs. ex- ADA suffers blow in DUI testimony
MEDIA COURTHOUSE — The prosecution in the case of a former assistant district attorney facing DUI and other charges in a 2011 hit- and- run was dealt a blow Wednesday when an expert witness was effectively neutered.
Defense attorney Mark Much, representing Michael J. Donohue, 32, of the 800 block of Darby Road in Havertown, challenged Senior Deputy Attorney General Joseph McGettigan’s expert witness Wendy Adams, a forensic toxicologist with NMS labs.
Adams had prepared a report for the prosecution that calculated a man of Donohue’s dimensions at the time of the Nov. 4, 2011 accident would have a blood alcohol level of about 0.157 percent had he consumed seven alcoholic beverages, containing 5 percent alcohol each, over a period of four- and- a- half hours.
Instead, Adams could only give a general description to the jury of how alcohol affects the nervous system with regards to perception, coordination and information processing.
Donohue is accused of partying with friends and colleagues on the evening of Nov. 4, 2011 at Sligo, an Irish pub in Media, before running down a 14- year- old boy on Township Line Road at about 10: 20 p. m.
He faces charges including aggravated and simple assault, aggravated assault while driving under the influence, failing to stop and render aid and driving while under the influence.
During opening arguments Tuesday, Much said the case is “not a whodunit” and admitted his client was involved in the accident. But Much claimed the prosecution could not show Donohue was drunk at the time and therefore could not prove aggravated assault while DUI.
Also testifying Wednesday was the victim, Jack Vantrieste, now 15. Vantrieste said he and three of his friends had smoked marijuana earlier in the day while skateboarding and biking.
He said he remembered crossing Township Line Road at Bryan Street and getting halfway across the four- lane highway before he had to stop to let westbound vehicles go by.
Vantrieste said he was wearing headphones and a hooded sweatshirt when he skated to the yellow lines and kicked his skateboard up into his left hand. He was struck within a second or two of getting there, he said.
Vantrieste told McGettigan on Wednesday that he had looked left and saw a traffic light at nearby Cobbs Street was red before crossing, but Much pointed out Vantrieste had not mentioned that at a preliminary hearing in February.
Noah Rivers, one of three friends with Vantrieste at the time of the accident, also testified that he did not see his friend get hit by the car, but Much pointed out that was not what he had told Upper Darby Police last year.
According to the prior statement, Rivers said he heard tires screeching and saw Vantrieste hit. He also previously said he saw the vehicle stop, but clarified that was only “for a split second” before it took off down Agnew Drive. He said he did not see the car stop on Agnew and did not see anyone exit the vehicle, but added he was focused on his friend by that point.
Also testifying Wednesday was Kieran Hughes, who saw the immediate aftermath of the accident as he was driving up Agnew Drive, a one- way street. Hughes said he saw a Jeep Cherokee or BMW SUV stopped on Agnew pointed in the wrong direction with its lights on. No one was in the car, but Hughes said a man wearing a red jacket and dark pants was walking toward him from Township Line Road as he approached the intersection.
As he turned right onto Township Line, Hughes said he saw the car on Agnew drive away, but had not seen anyone get into it.
The jury heard from a group of ADA’s and other friends of Donohue’s on Tuesday who had been in Sligo that evening, none of whom said Donohue appeared impaired as of 7 p. m.
Ciara Mason, a law clerk at the courthouse, testified Wednesday that she had also been at the bar and left with Donohue and another man, Tom McDonald, around 9 p. m. Mason also said Donohue did not appear impaired, just loud.
McDonald also testified that after dropping Mason at her car, McDonald got into his own vehicle and followed Donohue in his Jeep Cherokee to a location in Media, where they picked up some political lawn signs.
McDonald said he then drove to a McDonald’s restaurant on Township Line Road before going to the Bon Air Fire Company in Havertown. Donohue had gone to Apollo’s Pizza in Media and met him there within five minutes, said McDonald.
McDonald said he did not see Donohue eat the pizza, but he did take some of McDonald’s food before the two went to the Upper Darby Fire Department to drop off the signs. McDonald said he went with Donohue to and from Upper Darby in Donohue’s car.
McDonald said he had offered to drive after leaving Sligo, but later added he would say the same to anyone if he knew they had been in a bar. He also said he did not see Donohue driving erratically at any point and would not have gotten into a car with him if he believed he was impaired.
Senior Judge John L. Braxton, of Philadelphia, is expected to reconvene the trial this morning.