Lawyer: Taconic Crash Driver Was Sober Hours Before Crash

On Good Morning America this morning, lawyer Dominic Barbara told GMA's Chris Cuomo that Diane Schuler was absolutely sober when she left the camp grounds at 9 AM, just 4 1/2 hours prior to the fatal Taconic crash, and further questioned the toxicology report that says she was.

"I don't say that the report is accurate or not accurate. What I say is that none of this case is logical. This is a woman who leaves a camp ground at 9 a.m. absolutely sober ...We have video, we have tapes, we have people we spoke to. She had no alcohol in her system. There's no doubt she leaves that camp ground sober."

On August 4, the results of the toxicology report indicated that Diane Schuler was both drunk and high at the time of the fatal Taconic crash with the Long Island mother having a blood alcohol level .19% and high levels of THC which the toxicologist said proves she smoke marijuana within an hour before the crash.

It is unclear what, exactly, the toxicologist was relying to lead her to this conclusion. DUI drug cases are tough to prove because marijuana can stay in a person's system for a long time and proving when someone smoked or if they were under the influence as a result is a difficult proposition. There is a lack of scientific evidence to establish this fact.

The implication is simple. Diane Schuler got drunk and high and was so wasted she lost control of a car full of children, which included her own, causing this fatal crash that destroyed so many lives. Case closed! Does this really make sense?

Not if you are Schuler's lawyer who believes questions the toxicology report as he believes the Taconic crash was the result of a stroke caused by Schuler's underlying diabetes condition.

Schuler's lawyer suggests the whole thing doesn't make sense. It is not logical. In addition to the evidence that she was absolutely sober when she left the camp gounds in the morning, Barbara points out the 4 phone calls she made from the car right before the fatal accident one of the children in he car can be heard saying Schuler was having touble speaking and seeing.

This may have been the phone call Schuler made to her brother right before the crash in which investigators say she told him that she felt "disoriented and had trouble seeing." Maybe Schuler's lawyer has a point.

Think about it. If Diane Schuler was a drinker, maybe even an alcoholic, and pot smoker, does it make sense that she would call her brother to complain about how she felt as if she had no idea why? If this were the case, would it be more likely that she would realize she may have had too much to drink and smoke and, therefore, just pull over instead of making what appears to have been a confused phone call to her brother for help? Or, is that a phone call made by someone unfamiliar with such physical feelings and truly concerned about what is happening to them?

It would certainly appear that more investigation is needed here. For example, can anyone account for her whereabouts between the time her lawyer says she was sober at 9 AM and the time of the fatal Taconic crash? Diane Schuler may have very well ingested the substances found in her system as indicated in the toxicology report but, at this point, more information is certainly needed to determine if the cause of the tragic Taconic crash is as straight forward as the report would have you believe.

Written by Gabriel Dorman
gabedorman@gmail.com
www.criminaldefenseduilawyer.com/blog/