Two-and-a-half years after allegedly running a red light and colliding with another vehicle on U.S. Highway 53 in Hermantown causing the deaths of two men, Duluth funeral home operator Daniel D. Dougherty stands trial Tuesday.
Dougherty, 52, is accused of driving under the influence of Ambien, a prescription sleep aid. He also is charged with careless driving, failure to obey a traffic signal and speeding.
The alleged crimes are misdemeanors punishable by a maximum penalty of 90 days in jail and a $1,000 fine. When charges were filed, then-St. Louis County Attorney Melanie Ford said the evidence didn't support a charge of criminal vehicular homicide -- an assessment she said the Minnesota State Patrol agreed with. She also said Dougherty hadn't taken an unprescribed drug and he wasn't operating his vehicle in a grossly negligent manner.
The defendant is accused of running his GMC Yukon through a red light at the intersection of U.S. Highway 53 and Arrowhead Road just before midnight on March 15, 2009. He crashed broadside into a Toyota Camry driven by Timothy Schlies, 26. Schlies died at the scene. His passenger, Hans Champney Warren, 27, died the next day.
Dougherty was wearing a seat belt and the Yukon's airbags deployed. The airbags in Schlies' car deployed, but neither victim was wearing a seat belt.
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Speed data from sensors in Dougherty's GMC Yukon indicated that he had been traveling 58 mph in a 50 mph zone five seconds before the crash at Arrowhead Road. He stepped on the brakes one second before the crash, reducing his speed to 56 mph.
Dougherty had been prescribed the sleep aid Ambien and was told to take one tablet at bedtime as needed. According to court records, during an interview with a state trooper Dougherty said he might have put his Ambien pills into another prescription bottle that contained cholesterol medication.
Ambien users are advised not to drive or operate machinery after taking the medicine. They also are told to plan on devoting seven to eight hours to sleep.
Dougherty submitted to a preliminary breath test at the crash scene that showed he hadn't consumed alcohol. He also voluntarily provided a blood sample.
Defense attorney David Keegan has challenged the state's evidence, including evidence taken from the Yukon's event data recorder, known in GM vehicles as a sensing and diagnostic module and commonly referred to as a "black box." The state is using black box information to help support its charges.
The case has been delayed for several reasons. A court document filed by Keegan indicated that an engineer hired to review evidence in the case underwent a series of significant medical problems and wound up in the Mayo Clinic in Rochester.
The investigation into what the appropriate charges should be took nearly seven months, because the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension crime lab was backlogged with other cases involving toxicology and blood evidence. The Minnesota State Patrol completed its investigation and forwarded reports to Ford, who assigned a prosecutor in the county attorney's Hibbing office to review the case for charges because the county attorney's Duluth office had a personal relationship with Dougherty, she said.
According to court records, six judges have had the case during routine steps as it proceeds to trial. Judge Heather Sweetland will preside over the trial.
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Shawn Reed, a Hermantown city attorney, is prosecuting the case.
According to court records, Jane Warren, Hans Warren's mother, settled a wrongful death lawsuit brought against Dougherty. Terms of the settlement were not publicly disclosed.
