Acquitted of DUI in 2011 crash, Limerick woman faces new DUI, drug charges

NORRISTOWN » A Limerick woman acquitted of charges in 2013 that she was driving under the influence of prescription drugs when she struck and injured a man mowing his lawn faces new charges of DUI and illegally possessing drugs in the township.

Megan Marie Rossi, 32, of the 800 block of Tristen Way, was back in a Montgomery County courtroom on Friday as prosecutors sought to revoke or increase the own recognizance bail set by a district court judge that allowed her to remain free after her Oct. 3, 2019, arrest on charges she allegedly possessed heroin or fentanyl and methamphetamine in a vehicle along Hunsberger Drive in Limerick.

Rossi, who has pleaded not guilty to the drug possession charges, is currently awaiting trial.

Assistant District Attorney Evan Correia argued Rossi, while free on bail, was arrested again by Limerick police on Dec. 18, 2019, and charged with driving under the influence of a controlled substance and recklessly endangering another person after allegedly crashing her vehicle into a telephone pole in the township. A child was in the car with Rossi at the time, authorities alleged. Rossi faces a March 16 preliminary hearing on those charges.

“Due to the nature of the new charges, the defendant remains a significant risk to the public,” argued Correia, who asked for an increase to cash bail and a restriction that Rossi not operate a vehicle until her cases are resolved.

But defense lawyer Matthew T. Wilkov challenged the request, arguing Rossi hasn’t been convicted of the alleged crimes and any increase to cash bail would be an abuse of the bail system that would include punishment for allegations.

“We’re not trying to punish anyone. The purpose of this motion is to protect the community,” Correia responded during the hearing before Judge Melissa Schwartz Sterling. “We’re merely trying to have conditions placed on her that would prevent her from getting behind the wheel while intoxicated and potentially hurting somebody else on the road.”

After a brief hearing, Sterling modified Rossi’s bail to $5,000 unsecured, which will allow Rossi to remain free without having to put up any cash. However, the judge said Rossi must continue with ongoing drug treatment. If Rossi does not comply, Sterling warned she’d set a cash bail for Rossi.

With unsecured bail, if Rossi doesn’t show up for court she would have to forfeit $5,000. Under own recognizance bail there are no cash penalties for violating bail conditions.

In November 2013, Rossi was acquitted by a county judge of charges of aggravated assault by a vehicle while driving under the influence, aggravated assault by vehicle, driving under the influence of a controlled substance, recklessly endangering another person and reckless and careless driving, in connection with a 12:25 p.m. Nov. 6, 2011, crash in the first block of Laver Road in Limerick that injured 54-year-old Karl L. Pedone, who was mowing his lawn.

After a non-jury trial, Judge Joseph A. Smyth determined prosecutors “failed to prove, beyond a reasonable doubt, that defendant while driving her vehicle was under the influence of a drug or a combination of drugs to a degree that impaired her ability to safely drive, operate, or be in actual physical control of the movement of the vehicle.”

The judge did convict Rossi of two minor summary traffic offenses, failure to drive within a single lane and operating a vehicle without an official certification of inspection, charges that generally result in fines.

Pedone, who suffered head, lung and other injuries, underwent 17 surgeries and spent five months in various hospitals, according to trial testimony.

The judge, explaining his finding by referring to trial testimony, said none of the four police officers who interacted with Rossi after the crash detected any signs of impairment and he said the medications in her blood, all of which were medically prescribed, were at or below generally accepted therapeutic levels for those medications.

The judge also found credible a defense medical expert’s opinion that the drugs in Rossi’s blood, “to a reasonable degree of scientific certainty based on all the evidence did not cause her to be impaired beyond a reasonable doubt.”

During the non-jury, Wilkov characterized the crash as “a horrendous, horrible, freak accident.”

But prosecutors argued the levels of oxycodone and anti-anxiety drugs detected in Rossi’s bloodstream negatively affected her ability to drive safely. Prosecutors maintained “the major sign of impairment is she drove off the road” and that there was no evidence of emergency braking, which corroborated that her reaction time was slow.

The case hindered on the opinions of battling experts who testified for each side during the trial.

In her statement to police at the time, Rossi, who had recently given birth, admitted she was taking medications, according to testimony.

Rossi, who was operating a 2005 Buick Rendezvous eastbound on Laver Road at the time of the crash, told police she had been “going around a bend” and felt her tires pull to the right toward the area where Pedone was mowing his lawn, according to testimony and court papers.

“My car was going towards him at the fence. My tires got stuck and pulled me. I couldn’t get my tires out and it pulled me towards the property and I hit him,” Rossi allegedly told police. “I was at fault. It was not his fault.”

Police alleged Rossi’s vehicle struck a section of split rail fence, traveled through the fence and onto the lawn, striking a Kawasaki lawnmower operated by Pedone. Pedone was ejected from the mower onto the hood and windshield of Rossi’s vehicle, police alleged.