Witness says former warden smelled of alcohol after crash

VIENNA, Ill. -- Former Shawnee Correctional Center Warden William Barham smelled like alcohol after a deadly car wreck last year that killed his colleague, a witness testified Thursday in the second day of Barham's reckless homicide and drunken driving trail.

Barham, 47, faces a maximum of 14 years in prison if Johnson County Circuit Judge Michael Henshaw finds him guilty in the late-night crash last October on Illinois 147.

Barham's lawyer, who has not yet presented his own witnesses in the case, said in his opening argument Wednesday that Barham was not behind the wheel of the state car that crashed on the two-lane highway, killing prison dietary manager Jerry Isom, 47, of Metropolis, Ill.

Barham's lawyer, Randy Patchett, did not return a telephone call Thursday from The Associated Press.

Barham and Isom had attended a political fund raiser before the crash near the Southern Illinois town of Simpson. Barham is on unpaid administrative leave from his $72,000-a-year job.

On Wednesday, Daniel Stockdale, a motorist who happened upon the car soon after it crashed, testified that he saw Barham slumped unconscious behind the wheel, said Johnson County Assistant State's Attorney Alan McIntyre.

And on Thursday, Illinois State Police Trooper Jay Hall testified that he smelled alcohol on Barham in the ambulance on the way to the hospital, and after arriving at the hospital, McIntyre said.

Barham was hospitalized for nine days with serious injuries from the crash.

Prosecutors say Barham had a blood-alcohol level of 0.097 percent, over the Illinois legal limit of 0.08.

Also on Thursday, a General Motors engineer said equipment on the car indicated it was traveling at 76 miles an hour in the seconds before impact, McIntyre said. The speed limit where the accident happened is 55.