Post by Critique on Jan 19, 2007 2:41:59 GMT -5
MONROE COUNTY, NEW YORK – A Monroe County Sheriff’s deputy charged with killing a motorcyclist while driving drunk smelled of alcohol, walked unsteadily and said he had been driving before he demanded a lawyer and refused to take a sobriety test, two officers testified today.
At a pretrial hearing for James R. Telban Jr., charged with second-degree vehicular manslaughter and driving while intoxicated in the Sept. 6 death of Peter Volkmuth in Parma, Greece Police Officer Charles St. John said he first encountered Telban holding onto the bed of his pickup truck after the crash.
“I asked him if he had been involved in a motor vehicle accident that night,” St. John said. “He said, yes, he had. I asked him if he had been driving. He said yes, he was. I asked him what happened. He said he was leaving Braemar Country Club and he must have pulled out in front of somebody.”
Before St. John turned over Telban to a sheriff’s deputy to be arrested for driving while intoxicated, St. John said he noticed that Telban swayed as he walked, his eyes were bloodshot and watery, and that he smelled of alcohol.
Although St. John was outside Greece, he had responded to the crash scene at the request of a dispatcher to assist sheriff’s deputies with the investigation.
Deputy John Billitier, who arrested Telban, said he made similar observations and saw Telban stumble and have to be helped by another deputy.
“I observed that his eyes were bloodshot and he had a moderate odor of an alcoholic beverage emanating from his mouth, and that his movements were hesitant,” Billitier said.
The crash occurred as Telban, 45, was leaving Braemar Country Club, 4704 W. Ridge Road. Volkmuth, 27, suffered a fatal head injury when his westbound motorcycle collided with Telban’s Ford Ranger pickup truck.
Although Telban refused to take a field-sobriety test, a blood test later showed that his blood-alcohol content was 0.24 percent — three times the level needed to bring a DWI charge.
Today’s hearing in Monroe County Court will determine whether sheriff’s deputies had probable cause to arrest Telban and whether his brief statements can be used at his trial.
Judge John J. Connell scheduled the trial to begin April 23. It should take less than a week, said Telban’s lawyer, Joseph S. Damelio.
Telban resigned from the sheriff’s office after he was arrested. A grand jury later indicted him for vehicular manslaughter, which carries a penalty ranging from probation to seven years in prison.
www.democratandchronicle.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070117/NEWS01/701180319/1002/NEWS
At a pretrial hearing for James R. Telban Jr., charged with second-degree vehicular manslaughter and driving while intoxicated in the Sept. 6 death of Peter Volkmuth in Parma, Greece Police Officer Charles St. John said he first encountered Telban holding onto the bed of his pickup truck after the crash.
“I asked him if he had been involved in a motor vehicle accident that night,” St. John said. “He said, yes, he had. I asked him if he had been driving. He said yes, he was. I asked him what happened. He said he was leaving Braemar Country Club and he must have pulled out in front of somebody.”
Before St. John turned over Telban to a sheriff’s deputy to be arrested for driving while intoxicated, St. John said he noticed that Telban swayed as he walked, his eyes were bloodshot and watery, and that he smelled of alcohol.
Although St. John was outside Greece, he had responded to the crash scene at the request of a dispatcher to assist sheriff’s deputies with the investigation.
Deputy John Billitier, who arrested Telban, said he made similar observations and saw Telban stumble and have to be helped by another deputy.
“I observed that his eyes were bloodshot and he had a moderate odor of an alcoholic beverage emanating from his mouth, and that his movements were hesitant,” Billitier said.
The crash occurred as Telban, 45, was leaving Braemar Country Club, 4704 W. Ridge Road. Volkmuth, 27, suffered a fatal head injury when his westbound motorcycle collided with Telban’s Ford Ranger pickup truck.
Although Telban refused to take a field-sobriety test, a blood test later showed that his blood-alcohol content was 0.24 percent — three times the level needed to bring a DWI charge.
Today’s hearing in Monroe County Court will determine whether sheriff’s deputies had probable cause to arrest Telban and whether his brief statements can be used at his trial.
Judge John J. Connell scheduled the trial to begin April 23. It should take less than a week, said Telban’s lawyer, Joseph S. Damelio.
Telban resigned from the sheriff’s office after he was arrested. A grand jury later indicted him for vehicular manslaughter, which carries a penalty ranging from probation to seven years in prison.
www.democratandchronicle.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070117/NEWS01/701180319/1002/NEWS