As part of a convicted Kentucky driver's bid for a new trial in the 2015 Interstate 75 crash, a judge has ordered the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation to turn over potentially relevant emails and documents for review.
In a Sept. 25 order, Hamilton County Criminal Court Judge Don Poole said he wants the TBI and the state of Tennessee to provide him with any possible communications they had about a solvent found in Benjamin Brewer's blood sample so he can privately decide whether it's relevant.
This is part of Brewer's bid for a new trial in connection with the I-75 crash on June 25, 2015, that killed six and injured several others. His public defenders say they never knew the TBI added a solvent to Brewer's blood sample until a forensic scientist testified about it during Brewer's trial in January. Because they weren't told beforehand, they want Poole to set aside Brewer's conviction and 55-year punishment. And as part of their investigation into whether potentially helpful evidence was concealed, they subpoenaed the TBI for any emails or communications it exchanged with local prosecutors.
In motions and during a hearing last month, prosecutors argued any emails are protected work product, irrelevant to Brewer's case and therefore outside the evidence they're required to turn over to defense attorneys in criminal cases.
"If there is any question of fairness, impropriety or violation of the rules...these correspondence and/or documents should be examined," Poole wrote in his order, adding that he would review them in private because they're work product.
Prosecutors say Brewer crashed into slowed traffic on I-75 in June 2015, killing six and injuring several others, because he was speeding and had methamphetamine in his system. Though defenders said the state couldn't prove the drugs impaired him at the time of the crash, a jury convicted Brewer of six counts of vehicular homicide, four counts of aggravated assault and one count each of speeding and driving under the influence.
Poole sentenced him to 55 years in prison after a hearing in March.
The next court date for Brewer's motion for new trial is Oct. 15.
Contact staff writer Zack Peterson at zpeterson@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6347. Follow him on Twitter @zackpeterson918.