KENAI, Alaska (AP) - An Alaska man convicted of hitting two joggers with his car four years ago has lost an appeal to suppress evidence presented during his trial.
The Alaska Court of Appeals in a decision published last Friday upheld a Superior Court decision that allowed blood test results and admissions of drug use by Jeromy Hurlburt to be used as evidence in his trial, the Peninsula Clarion reported .
Hurlburt, of Soldotna, was convicted in 2013 of driving under the influence and two counts of first-degree assault for recklessly causing serious physical injury.
He was sentenced to 19 years and nine months in prison.
Hurlburt drove his car into oncoming traffic in March 2012 after failing to follow a curve. The car crossed the center line, cut off another driver and continued onto a bike path, where it hit and seriously injured two female joggers.
A Soldotna police officer mistakenly told Hurlburt after the crash that he was required to take a blood test. The law mandating blood tests was deemed unconstitutional in 2004, but never updated in state statute.
Hurlburt told the officer he was afraid to take a blood test because he had taken methamphetamine for the first time four days before.
The officer gave Hurlburt a field sobriety test, which Hurlburt failed. A blood test taken later at the hospital found methamphetamine in his system.
Before the trial and in his appeal, Hurlburt’s defense moved to suppress statements made by Hurlburt and results of a blood test on the grounds that both were the result of unlawful seizures.
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Information from: (Kenai, Alaska) Peninsula Clarion, http://www.peninsulaclarion.com
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