HUTCHINSON, Kan. – After the Kansas Court of appeals reversed the ruling of Judge Trish Rose regarding motion to suppress evidence in a fatal crash involving the suspect allegedly being under the influence of methamphetamine, she granted a motion by the defense for judgment of acquittal.
Troy Meitler of Halstead had beem charged with involuntary manslaughter in connection with a two-vehicle fatality accident west of Hutchinson in Feb. of 2012.
Meitler apparently crossed the center line with his vehicle and struck the vehicle driven by 49-year-old Brian Bush head-on. Bush was killed instantly, while his passenger, 50-year-old Annette Bush was badly injured and taken to a Wichita hospital where she later died, but apparently not as a direct result of the accident. The accident occurring on U-S 50 at Salem Road, three miles west of Abbyville.
Meitler was taken to a Wichita hospital where a blood sample taken and tested positive for methamphetamine.
The Court of Appeals had ruled that Judge Rose erred in suppressing the evidence of Meitler’s blood draw, saying the good-faith exception to the exclusionary rule is applicable to the facts. They add that trooper’s Stephen Morris and John Maier’s conduct in ordering the blood draw was reliant on then-existing authority provided by law.
But, Judge Rose in her ruling said she didn’t believe there was any quantitative evidence of him being under the influence of methamphetamine or marijuana.
The case was still in progress when the defense made the motion and it was granted. The state is filing an appeal on a question reserved in what they say is an issue of statewide importance.
The state in their appeal motion claims that the Court improperly excluded testimony by the State’s expert witness, improperly dismissed the involuntary manslaughter count, by determining a quantitative measure of the defendant’s level of intoxication on methamphetamine and marijuana had not been proven and that she improperly disallowed the state to present material demonstrative evidence relevant to the claims which they are required to prove.
The states appeal will not effect the decision by the judge meaning the charges against Meitler are dismissed.