Attorneys for the Kentucky trucker sentenced to 55 years in prison for an Interstate 75 crash that killed six say he should receive a new trial because the state concealed crucial evidence beforehand.
In particular, Ben Brewer’s attorneys want more information on a chemical called naphthalene that the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation added to Brewer’s blood sample after the 42-year-old crashed into slowed traffic on I-75 on June 25, 2015. Naphthalene is used in mothballs and is considered a good solvent for making chemical solutions.
Public defenders say they never learned about this “contamination” until a TBI agent on the witness stand mentioned it during Brewer’s trial in Hamilton County Criminal Court this January. Because of that, along with a second blood test that showed different levels of illegal drugs in Brewer’s system, his defenders say he is entitled to a new trial or an acquittal.
They’ll get their chance to argue further on Sept. 10 before Criminal Court Judge Don Poole. But on that date, their arguments will focus on a related, though different, legal issue: Whether prosecutors have to respond to a defense subpoena asking for any possible communications the state had with the TBI about the substance, as well as information about how many other blood samples on which the TBI used the substance.
Hamilton County District Attorney General Neal Pinkston is opposed to the defense attorneys’ subpoena, saying that prosecutors turned over everything to which Brewer is entitled in a criminal case. In a motion filed earlier this month, Pinkston said emails are considered protected “work product” and irrelevant to Brewer’s case.