Trial of custom motorcycle builder riding through legal system
The Staff of Clutch and Chrome
June 16th 2008
The trial for
custom motorcycle builder Billy Lane has been plagued by
motions and delays.
Lane, 38 was
twice over the legal limit when he struck a motorcycle
driven by Gerald Morelock, 56, of Melbourne Beach on Labor
Day 2006. The case has been at a standstill since Lane's
lawyers requested that his blood samples be retested by an
out-of-state laboratory. The final results are in, but
Lane's lawyers said can't move forward until they meet with
their toxicology expert for a final briefing on the data.
Judge Meryl Allawas wanted defense attorney Greg Eisenmenger
to submit his motions to the court by June 6, giving
prosecutor Tom Brown the opportunity to schedule depositions
with the toxicologist, staff from the hospital that drew the
blood samples or any other relevant witnesses. With this
motion expected to be filed, a June 12 hearing date was set
to allow all parties concerned to set a trial date of
September.
However, the hearing was cancelled because attorneys Gregory
Eisenmenger and Robert Barry were out of town on another
case.
Motions were
filed by Lane’s attorneys on June 6th as requested by Judge
Allawas, with all three requesting to suppress the blood
evidence the prosecution needs for the DUI charges.
The motions
filed alleges that the State of Florida and FDLE (Florida
Department of Law Enforcement) rules were not complied with
requiring a separate administrative hearing. It also alleges
several critical errors were made in the handling and
analysis of the blood evidence. From sending the blood
sample with certified mail instead of overnight service,
causing a seven day delay, to allegations of incorrect
analysis by the FDLE examiner.
Although all
of the 3 motions filed were to suppress the blood evidence
in the case, none of them mentioned the expert witness or
lab work completed in Colorado that had caused major time
delays in the case previously. |
