Jun 6, 2002 By Jennifer Harr 2 min read

A Fayette County jury believed that Douglas E. Geary’s negligent driving caused the death of his passenger and friend, Winfield Hissem, in August 2000, but did not believe that he was under the influence of alcohol at the time. Jurors acquitted Geary, 38, of Normalville R.D. 1 of homicide by vehicle while driving under the influence (DUI) and DUI, but convicted him of homicide by vehicle, accidents involving death while improperly licensed, roadways not laned for traffic, reckless driving and operating a vehicle with a suspended license.

President Judge William J. Franks, who presided over the trial, will sentence Geary at a later date.

Geary, state police charge, wrecked along Quail Hill Road in Bullskin Township. During the accident, Geary was thrown from the car.

Hissem was in the vehicle when it hit a tree.

First Administrative Assistant District Attorney John A. Kopas III prosecuted the case without the benefit of blood-alcohol results taken from Geary after the accident.

Those results, which indicated Geary’s alcohol level was .120percent, were tossed out before the trial began because a judge ruled they were improperly obtained. The legal alcohol limit for a motorist in Pennsylvania is .10 percent.

Kopas told jurors in his opening remarks that no alcohol levels would be introduced, but he brought in witnesses that indicated Geary acted intoxicated just before and after the accident.

Geary’s attorney, Ed Bilik, brought in counter-witnesses who testified that Geary did not seem intoxicated.

One defense witnesses, Charlotte Nicholson of Normalville, testified that she saw a trooper throw a beer can into Geary’s wrecked vehicle and then take a picture.

Homicide by vehicle is a third-degree felony, punishable by a prison term of up to seven years.