News (Media Awareness Project) - Red Wings Limo Driver Had Marijuana in Systemy |
| Title: | Red Wings Limo Driver Had Marijuana in Systemy |
| Published On: | 1997-07-16 |
| Fetched On: | 2008-09-08 14:24:34 |
PONTIAC, Reuters [OL] : Toxicology tests
revealed marijuana in the blood of a driver who smashed his
limousine into a tree last month, injuring members of the Detroit
Red Wings hockey team, prosecutors said Monday.
Police said the tests shed new light on why the limousine driven
by Richard Gnida veered across a busy road in a Detroit suburb
and crashed into a tree. Police had speculated Gnida was asleep at
the wheel before the June 13 accident.
``It didn't make sense why he should veer from one extreme lane
all the way to the other without even braking or attempting to
swerve. Something didn't make sense,'' Oakland County
Prosecutor David Gorcyca said at a news conference.
Red Wings defenseman Vladimir Konstantinov and team masseur
Sergei Mnatsakanov suffered severe head injuries in the crash.
Mnastakanov emerged from a coma last week. Konstantinov
remains in a coma but has shown gradual signs of improvement.
A third passenger, defenseman Slava Fetisov, sustained chest
contusions and a bruised lung and was released from the hospital
in June.
Gorcyca said charges will not be brought against Gnida until
police receive a formal report and a more detailed blood analysis.
Additional testing should tell police how much marijuana was in
Gnida's blood.
Additional testing may also determine if the marijuana in Gnida's
system was from a marijuana cigarette found in the limousine,
although Gorcyca cautioned investigators may never be able to
make that connection.
An earlier test did not reveal marijuana in Gnida, but police said
that test was different than the second series performed by an
outofstate laboratory. Doctors have said alcohol did not play a
role in the accident.
Gorcyca said Gnida could face a felony charge of driving under
the influence of narcotics causing injury, which carries a jail
sentence of up to five years.
David Schultz, a Birmingham police investigator, said Gnida still
refuses to answer questions. Police still expect to charge Gnida
with driving with a suspended license.
[Copyright 1997, Reuters]
revealed marijuana in the blood of a driver who smashed his
limousine into a tree last month, injuring members of the Detroit
Red Wings hockey team, prosecutors said Monday.
Police said the tests shed new light on why the limousine driven
by Richard Gnida veered across a busy road in a Detroit suburb
and crashed into a tree. Police had speculated Gnida was asleep at
the wheel before the June 13 accident.
``It didn't make sense why he should veer from one extreme lane
all the way to the other without even braking or attempting to
swerve. Something didn't make sense,'' Oakland County
Prosecutor David Gorcyca said at a news conference.
Red Wings defenseman Vladimir Konstantinov and team masseur
Sergei Mnatsakanov suffered severe head injuries in the crash.
Mnastakanov emerged from a coma last week. Konstantinov
remains in a coma but has shown gradual signs of improvement.
A third passenger, defenseman Slava Fetisov, sustained chest
contusions and a bruised lung and was released from the hospital
in June.
Gorcyca said charges will not be brought against Gnida until
police receive a formal report and a more detailed blood analysis.
Additional testing should tell police how much marijuana was in
Gnida's blood.
Additional testing may also determine if the marijuana in Gnida's
system was from a marijuana cigarette found in the limousine,
although Gorcyca cautioned investigators may never be able to
make that connection.
An earlier test did not reveal marijuana in Gnida, but police said
that test was different than the second series performed by an
outofstate laboratory. Doctors have said alcohol did not play a
role in the accident.
Gorcyca said Gnida could face a felony charge of driving under
the influence of narcotics causing injury, which carries a jail
sentence of up to five years.
David Schultz, a Birmingham police investigator, said Gnida still
refuses to answer questions. Police still expect to charge Gnida
with driving with a suspended license.
[Copyright 1997, Reuters]
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