HARRISBURG — The state Superior Court is allowing the prosecution to use blood evidence in the vehicular homicide case against Kaitlyn Wolfel, accused of killing one pedestrian and seriously injuring another in a December 2014 car crash in Cameron County.
In the accident, David Croyle, 62, was killed, and Emporium man Patrick Hornung, 25, was injured while the two were walking on the Old West Creek Road in Shippen Township. Wolfel is alleged to have been the driver of the vehicle at the time of the accident, and police later obtained a blood sample from Wolfel after they allege she performed poorly on a field sobriety test.
Under the state’s implied consent law at the time, suspects could face a penalty for refusing to comply with the blood test, as the state police told Wolfel upon her arrest. Her blood test showed her blood-alcohol content was .178 percent; the legal limit is .08 percent.
Wolfel’s attorney, Gary Knaresboro of DuBois, argued that the blood draw and any evidence that came from it should be thrown out. He argued that a U.S. Supreme Court decision in the case of Birchfield v. North Dakota set precedent for defendants to no longer be compelled to submit a blood test by being told they will be charged with a crime for refusing .
Senior Judge William Morgan agreed, and suppressed the blood test.
Wolfel was scheduled to stand trial in September 2016, but the trial was put on hold when the state attorney general’s office filed an appeal to the suppression ruling by Morgan.
In December, the Superior Court reversed Morgan’s decision and remanded the case to Cameron County for further proceedings.
According to the memorandum by Superior Court Judge John Musmanno, the warnings given to Wolfel were valid at the time of her arrest, and police had a “good faith” belief that they were applying the law as it stood.
The Birchfield ruling wasn’t made until June 23, 2016.
“At the time of Wolfel’s arrest, police were required to read Wolfel the warnings contained in the (implied consent refusal) form, which this court and our Supreme Court had consistently upheld as constitutional … police officers in Pennsylvania had no reason to believe that the Supreme Court of the United States would render the statute unconstitutional in Birchfield,” according to the memorandum.
Last week, Knaresboro filed a motion asking the Superior Court to reconsider its ruling. No decision had been made as of Thursday on that request.
The case is being handled by the attorney general’s office as Cameron County District Attorney Jeanne Miglicio was employed by the public defender’s office when the case was filed. She took office while the case was still open.
Several prosecutors from the Pennsylvania attorney general’s office have been assigned to the case at one time or another. Court documents indicate that the case is currently being handled by Megan Victoria Madaffari, who appears to have taken over in October of 2017.
Wolfel is charged with homicide by vehicle while DUI; aggravated assault by vehicle while DUI; DUI and DUI with a blood alcohol content of .178 percent; and careless driving. She is currently free on $30,000 bail.
