Tiffany Pohl was not in court this morning. One of her family members said she wasn’t feeling well. Tiffany arrived in the afternoon and sat in an adjacent courtroom.
Today’s testimony focused on law enforcement and how officers investigated the crime scene the night of the accident. Sgt. Don Krueger took the stand. He helped perform CPR on Tiffany Pohl and photographed the crime scene. He was also in charge of the evidence.
Krueger underwent intense questioning by Mary Lou Robinson. She focused on what Sgt. Krueger didn’t do that night. She asked why he didn’t photograph a fluid trail that ran down Highway 55 from the accident scene to the Randall Ashauer’s SUV. Robinson implied this helped Randall Ashauer because the fluid trail was in the road and ended in a right turn lane at Maloney Rd. where he was attempting to make a right turn. Robinson says the fluid trail was not on the shoulder. Sgt. Krueger said that many of the things Robinson was questioning him about were not his duty that night.
Judge McGinnis informed the jury of his pre-trial ruling to suppress tire marks that had been photographed that night. McGinnis said those tire marks could not be linked to Ashauer’s vehicle because they were not collected properly. McGinnis said the tire marks were unreliable.
A witness to the crash also testified. Larry Novak was getting gas at the Shell gas station on April 1. Novak said he was trying to turn onto Highway 55 (Delanglade St.) when he saw a headlight go out on Randall Ashauer’s vehicle. Novak said he thought that it was unusual because he had never seen something like that before. Novak testified he did not see the girls and he could not tell whether the car was on the road or shoulder. However, Novak said he did not see the SUV swerve.
Next up, Officer Thomas Raether. Raether took Randall Ashauer into custody the night of the crash. He said that he could smell alcohol on Ashauer’s breath and Ashauer had trouble performing field sobriety tests. Raether said Ashauer told him, “He said that he was drunk and that I could arrest him. He just wanted to know how the girl was doing.”
Raether took Ashauer to Appleton Medical Center where blood was drawn after 10 p.m. nearly two hours after the accident. Mary Lou Robinson asked Raether whether Ashauer could have had trouble performing the field sobriety tests because he was “fat.” Everyone in the courtroom got a laugh out of that! Poor Mr. Ashauer! Raether said it was possible. Robinson also said the UV Blue Vodka Ashauer was drinking that night was a lower proof vodka and that the intoxicants Raether smelled was the flavoring of the vodka -- not the alcohol.
An alcohol analyst from Madison testified Ashauer’s BAC was .195 -- or more than two times the legal limit. Mary Lou Robinson questioned the accuracy of the testing. Kristen Drewick said her lab has an error rate of + or -- 5%.
Officer John Nejedlo wrapped up the testimony. He said that he marked off the crime scene that night with his squad car and he saw the fluid trail running from the SUV to the shoulder where Tiffany Pohl was lying on the ground. Mary Lou Robinson vigorously questioned Nejedlo about why the fluid trail wasn’t mentioned in his reports. Nejedlo didn’t really have a reason. Nejedlo speculated that the fluid mark on the shoulder wasn’t photographed because it had already soaked into the gravel. Robinson was not happy with this.
