A High Stakes Vehicular Homicide Case in Webster County

The Messenger reports that there was a hearing in Webster County last week in the case of Lance Deal, who was involved in a fatal accident.

Deal had a BAC of 0.289 and his friend Clinton Pringle was ejected from his truck and killed last summer when Deal crashed it. Deal is a professional driver which makes one wonder what he was thinking. 0.289 is tanked up pretty well, as my old man used to say.

The question centers on whether Deal was or was not alert enough to have given his consent to a blood test that determined his alcohol level. Officer Dave Beshey of the Fort Dodge P.D. filled out a consent form that is used when the subject is incapable of consent. However, a nurse at the hospital noted that Deal was "alert and oriented" before blood was drawn. Beshey testified that Deal was unconscious at the scene and was incoherent when being treated. A doctor at the hospital where Deal was treated said that he was awake but stuporous and it was his opinion that Deal was incapable of making a decision to consent or not.

A hearing on Deal's motion to suppress evidence was held on June 8. We'll be watching this one.

If you were to ask me to take a guess, I'd say it's in. but we'll have to wait on this one.

A tip of the hat to Deputy Jason Barnes of the MCSO for bringing this to my desk.