KAUFMAN, Texas — A 12-member jury was selected Monday afternoon in Kaufman County Court at Law Judge Dennis Patman Jones’ courtroom to hear the case of John Allen English who is accused of intoxication manslaughter in the death of a Kaufman County area woman and several other assault charges related to a December 9, 2012, vehicle accident.
KAUFMAN, Texas — A 12-member jury was selected Monday afternoon in Kaufman County Court at Law Judge Dennis Patman Jones’ courtroom to hear the case of John Allen English who is accused of intoxication manslaughter in the death of a Kaufman County area woman and several other assault charges related to a December 9, 2012, vehicle accident.
English was allegedly driving a vehicle on Farm-to-Market (FM) 987 north of Kaufman, Texas, with Whittney Crawford when investigators say he crossed the center line of the road and struck a vehicle carrying Tyler Wiggins, Michelle Cheney, and Megan Cheney. Crawford, raised in Kaufman, Texas, was pronounced dead at the scene and the others were transported to Dallas area hospitals.
English was later indicted for one count of intoxication manslaughter with a vehicle, a second-degree felony; two counts of intoxication assault, third-degree felonies; manslaughter, a second-degree felony; and four counts of aggravated assault, second-degree felonies. Each charge was enhanced due to a felony offense conviction for possession of a controlled substance in penalty group one, one gram or more but less than four grams, in Kaufman County prior to the date of the accident.
Testimony in the trial is expected to begin Tuesday morning, September 30, 2014, at 10 a.m.
Monday afternoon, Jones allowed a Daubert hearing out of the presence of the jury to hear a motion to suppress from defense attorney Taryn Davis for urine and blood samples obtained from English at Parkland Memorial Hospital during his treatment following the accident. Davis questioned the scientific reliability and methodology of the results.
Prosecutor Phillip Williams called Parkland Memorial Hospital Clinical Laboratory Specialist Karen Jessen who testified urine samples obtained from English tested positive for cannabinoids and a high level of amphetamines which triggered secondary testing at another facility.
The results from the secondary facility were excluded from state’s evidence in today’s hearing. The Daubert hearing is expected to continue tomorrow morning at 8:45 a.m. with witnesses from the secondary facility, Mayo Clinic.
Mark Butler, a trauma nurse, testified to finding a small bag of a white, crystal-like substance believed to be methamphetamine on English during his treatment. The bag was overturned to the hospital’s police and noted in the medical records.
Jones is expected to make a ruling on the admissibility of the test results tomorrow morning.
