Geary friend testifies state trooper planted beer can
Fayette County jurors on Tuesday heard testimony that a state police trooper picked up a beer can at the scene of a fatal accident, tossed it into Douglas E. Geary’s car, and then took a picture. Charlotte Nicholson of Normalville testified that, as a friend of Geary’s, she went to the scene of an Aug. 20, 2000, accident he was in. That accident claimed the life of Geary’s passenger, Winfield Charles Hissem.
In the wake of the accident, Geary was charged with homicide by vehicle while DUI, homicide by vehicle, accidents involving death while improperly licensed, DUI, roadways not laned for traffic, reckless driving and operating a vehicle with a suspended license.
When she arrived, Nicholson said, she saw a trooper, whom she could not identify, picking up debris off the road. Trying to be helpful, she said she started to gather things up too, but was told to stop.
“Then I saw an officer open the door (to Geary’s wrecked vehicle), toss the beer can in and take a picture. I have no idea where (the can went inside), but he threw the can in the vehicle,” Nicholson told defense attorney Ed Bilik.
The presence of a beer can inside the car helps to support the contention of police that Geary was under the influence of alcohol at the time of the crash.
After the accident, police did draw blood to check Geary’s blood-alcohol content, but the result was thrown out because it was obtained illegally.
Although jurors will not hear the result in official testimony, hospital records indicated that Geary’s BAC was .120, slightly over the .10 legal limit for driving in Pennsylvania.
Even without the alcohol level documented, prosecutors are continuing with the DUI-related charges, and hope to prove Geary’s guilt via witnesses who saw him directly before and after the accident.
Under questioning from First Administrative Assistant District Attorney John A. Kopas III, Nicholson testified that she arrived after both Geary and Hissem were already taken from the scene.
She also told Kopas that she did not know if photos had been taken beforehand, and what the state of the scene was before her arrival.
When Kopas asked Nicholson if there were other beer cans strewn about the roadway, she said there were not.
“I wouldn’t have noticed that one, except that I saw (a trooper) throw it into the car. And I’m not the only one,” testified Nicholson, “The firemen saw him do it too.”
The trial, before President Judge William J. Franks, is expected to continue today.