Warrant for blood sample is granted in fatal crash

Days after the Missouri Supreme Court declared it is legal to execute a search warrant to obtain blood in a suspected case of driving while intoxicated, Cape Girardeau County Prosecuting Attorney Morley Swingle applied for such a search warrant against a driver involved in a wreck that killed two people Thursday night in Wayne County.

The driver, Kristeena E. Smith, 31, of Patterson, Mo., was flown to St. Francis Medical Center in Cape Girardeau after the 10:03 p.m. accident near Patterson. When she refused to give a blood sample to determine whether she had been driving while intoxicated, Swingle applied for a search warrant because she was in his jurisdiction at the time. The warrant specified that the blood sample would be used as evidence of the commission of the crimes of involuntary manslaughter and driving while intoxicated. Judge Gary Kamp issued the warrant at 1:30 Friday morning.

It is now up to Wayne County Prosecuting Attorney John Kiser to decide whether he will file charges against Smith.

Friday afternoon, Kiser said that he had not filed any charges against Smith because he had not yet received any written reports about the accident, including whatever level of intoxication the blood sample may have revealed.

According to a probable cause affidavit written by Cody Fulkerson of the Missouri State Highway Patrol, Smith lost control of her 1998 Chevrolet Cavalier on Wayne County Route FF a mile west of Highway 67 near Patterson. The car overturned and ejected two passengers before coming to rest on its top. The passengers -- Scott Warmack, 38, and Douglas Falls, 46, both of Patterson -- were pronounced dead at the scene by Wayne County Coroner Barbara Anderson.

Fulkerson's affidavit stated that Smith was still behind the steering wheel when a Wayne County deputy arrived and that she smelled strongly of alcohol. She admitted that she had been drinking, Fulkerson stated, and he saw beer bottles in the car.

Smith's injuries were considered moderate and not life-threatening, the patrol said.

On May 12 the court heard arguments brought about by a Jackson woman, Carol Sue Smith, who was charged with drunken driving Aug. 12, 2002. She refused to take a Breathalyzer test and a Cape Girardeau County deputy executed a search warrant to collect a blood sample. Smith filed suit to keep that evidence from being used against her in court.

On May 25 the Supreme Court sent back an unsigned order and thereby let stand the earlier ruling by the Eastern Districts Court of Appeals allowing the use of such search warrants.

Swingle noted that any possible case would be much more difficult to prosecute had it not been possible to get the search warrant for Smith's blood sample.

"The wisdom of the Supreme Court could not have been demonstrated more quickly or dramatically than it was in this incident," Swingle said.

lredeffer@semissourian.com

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