NORTHAMPTON — A Hampshire Superior Court judge ruled blood evidence that allegedly shows a South Hadley teen had Xanax in his system at the time of a fatal crash may be used in trial.
Judge Daniel Ford on Friday denied a defense motion to suppress the results of a laboratory analysis of Ryan D. Brunelle’s blood performed by the Massachusetts State Police in the aftermath of the May 22, 2016 fatal crash.
Brunelle, 19, of South Hadley, pleaded not guilty in January in superior court to negligent motor vehicle homicide while under the influence of drugs. Brunelle was driving on that evening when his car allegedly crossed the center line on College Street in South Hadley and struck the vehicle of 29-year-old Thomas Flanagan, of Westfield.
Following the crash, Brunelle was taken to Baystate Medical Center for treatment for injuries that were not life-threatening. Police questioned Brunelle, who “appeared lucid and alert” at the hospital, according to court documents. Brunelle allegedly told police he dozed off and awoke when the two cars collided.
While at the hospital, medical professionals drew blood for the purpose of “medical diagnosis and treatment,” according to court documents. Police obtained a search warrant days later for the blood drawn by hospital staff.
An analysis of the blood found the presence of medications Brunelle was prescribed, as well as Xanax — which forms the basis for the felony charge alleged in the indictment.
Brunelle attorney’s David Hoose argued that the seizure of the blood from the hospital was illegal and in violation of Brunelle’s fourth and 14th amendment rights because it was done without probable cause to “believe that it would reveal evidence of a crime,” and that it was not done within a timely manner.
Hoose also argued it was beyond the scope of the warrant filed by police and that the warrant “did not state with adequate particularity, the drugs that were the subject of the search.”
First Assistant Northwestern Attorney Steven Gagne argued that police were within their rights to analyze the blood as they were investigating “a clear case of negligent operation of a motor vehicle.” Brunelle’s physical condition at the time of the crash was highly relevant “to the question of whether he was negligent in the manner in which he operated his motor vehicle,” Gagne argued.
In his ruling, Ford wrote Brunelle’s apparent good health and the fact that he admitted to taking a nap that day suggested that he did not doze off because of ill health or fatigue “but rather that the medications likely were a contributing factor in producing his state of drowsiness.”
“The defendants’s physical condition at the time of the crash was certainly relevant to the issue of negligence,” Ford wrote.
Ford also ruled that while the warrant did not explicitly permit an analysis, it did so implicitly.
“The two vials of blood themselves are not evidence of a crime. It is the content of the blood which would constitute such evidence,” Ford wrote in his decision. “It would make no sense for the clerk-magistrate to permit the police to seize the blood but to deny them permission to test it.”