Driver's statements thrown out in fatal DUI
A Kendall County judge criticized police investigators Thursday as he threw out a woman's videotaped statements about a drunken-driving crash that left five Oswego teens dead.
Judge Thomas Mueller ruled that oral statements Sandra Vasquez made to police while in the Rush Copley Medical Center emergency room Feb. 11 could be used in her trial on reckless homicide and aggravated DUI charges.
But he agreed to a request by defense attorneys to suppress a videotaped statement Vasquez gave later that day.
Although police read Vasquez her Miranda rights, they rushed through the process, the judge said.
"The way they rattled it off was fast and cursory," Mueller said. "I can't imagine how it was received by someone who had just been in a serious car accident, lying in a hospital bed."
Vasquez has pleaded innocent to the charges. Prosecutors allege she was speeding and her blood-alcohol level was .124 percent, above the .08 threshold, when her car slammed into a utility pole along Route 31 in Oswego.
Authorities say that eight teenagers squeezed into Vasquez's Infiniti about 2 a.m. following a party near Montgomery.
Oswego High School students Mathew Frank, 17, Katherine Merkel, 14, Jessica Nutoni, 15, James McGee, 14, and Tiffany Urso, 16, died as a result of the crash. Three other students were injured.
Family members of the victims filled two benches in the courtroom, many wearing t-shirts with the faces and names of their loved ones.
Although police officers did not read Vasquez her rights while she answered questions in the emergency room early in the investigation, legal precedents indicate that the testimony was obtained correctly, Mueller said.
It was a different situation when detectives later interviewed Vasquez in a hospital room.
Defense attorney Kathleen Colton maintains Vasquez was not asked for permission to videotape the interview, did not understand her rights and was rushed through the Miranda process.
The judge agreed and called the police's actions "fairly offensive."
When police asked Vasquez to participate in a question-and-answer session, Mueller said, "that is what the court finds offensive."
"This was an interrogation. At that point, she was clearly a suspect in a very, very serious case. They came in acting calm, nonchalant and laissez- faire. She attempted to stop it and they act like her pals."
Kendall County State's Attorney Eric Weis said he was pleased the judge allowed the earlier statements, which include Vasquez admitting she was the driver and was too drunk to get behind the wheel.
As to the videotape ruling, he noted, "in my 12 years as a prosecutor, I've never heard police being criticized for being too nice while taking a statement."
Vasquez, who suffered a punctured lung, broken pelvis and leg, and a crushed collarbone in the accident, wiped away tears several times while in the courthouse. The single mother of two could face six to 28 years in prison if convicted.
Oswego police did not return calls for comment.
The next court date is a Nov. 19 hearing.
Colton has asked the judge to prevent prosecutors from using Vasquez's clothing, which they collected at the hospital, as evidence. The garments were obtained without a warrant, she said.