Pubdate: Mon, 01 Nov 2004 Source: Milwaukee Journal Sentinel (WI) Copyright: 2004 Milwaukee Journal Sentinel Contact: http://www.jsonline.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/265 Author: David Doege Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/pot.htm (Cannabis) Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?224 (Cannabis and Driving) MAN WHO CAUSED 2 SEVERE CRASHES MAY GET 60 DAYS Juneau - In the span of six months, Nicholas Vogg caused two major car crashes that left one man dead and critically injured a friend. Authorities suspected that marijuana played a role in the first crash and that alcohol contributed to the second. But Vogg could walk out of Dodge County Circuit Court with only a term of probation and 60 days in jail as punishment because a new law took effect too late to be invoked for the first crash and because he walked away from the scene of the second. Wisconsin's so-called drugged-driving law didn't take effect until six months after Vogg pulled away from a stop sign and into the path of a car driven by Paul Kozlowski, killing him. Of the first case, Dodge County District Attorney Steven Bauer said in an interview last week, "Now we have the exact law that I could have used for the circumstances. I understand that the family (of Kozlowski) is upset, but we did what we could under the law." After a lengthy investigation, Bauer decided he could charge Vogg only with possession of marijuana and drug paraphernalia for what was found in the car and nothing for what was found in his system. Not enough to convict "The level of THC (the active ingredient in marijuana that produces its high) was low, and there was no one that would testify that it made him impaired," Bauer said. "There was not enough to convict him of operating while impaired. Vogg has been charged with two felony counts of injury by intoxicated use of a vehicle in November 2003 in connection with the second crash. Cindy Kozlowski, whose husband of 43 years was killed in the first accident, wrote in a letter to the judge presiding over Vogg's cases that the second crash demonstrated that he had no remorse. "A life was cut short due to his actions!" she wrote in a letter to Dodge County Circuit Judge Daniel Klossner. "This second accident caused my family and myself almost as much anguish, grief and stress as the first one." Bauer said he would have liked to come down harder on Vogg, but circumstances and the law prevented him from doing so. As for the second crash, Bauer said, "The case has some problems with proving impairment. He wasn't actually arrested until some time after the accident." Although he was drinking on the night of the second incident - a rollover crash in which he critically injured a friend, then abandoned him and the overturned car - by the time he was arrested, it was too late to accurately determine his blood-alcohol concentration at the time of the crash, investigators said. Bauer said he has learned that because of Vogg's late arrest and the delay in getting blood, there would be difficulty proving his impairment at the time of the crash. Both cases were scheduled for Thursday, but the proceedings were postponed. DA: No comment on deal Bauer said Thursday, "I'm not going to comment on pending plea negotiations. I do not want to talk about anything that could have an impact on his (Vogg's) ability to have a trial if he chooses to do so." Attempts to reach Vogg's defense attorney, Patrick H. Madden, were unsuccessful. But Linda Kozlowski Bourret, Paul Kozlowski's daughter, said she was informed by the district attorney's office that both cases are expected to be resolved in a plea bargain involving misdemeanor - not felony - convictions and an expected sentence of probation and 60 days in jail, an outcome she considers lenient. The first crash occurred on March 16, 2003, when Paul Kozlowski, 67, of Neosho was eastbound on Highway 33 in the Town of Hubbard. A Dodge County Sheriff's Department report says that Vogg, now 22, of Neosho, was northbound on county Highway TW when he pulled away from a stop sign and into the path of Kozlowski's car. Kozlowski died from internal injuries while Vogg and a passenger in the car he drove, Christopher Hertzel, 20, survived. At a hospital, Vogg admitted having smoked marijuana "on the night of March 15, 2003," according to a criminal complaint. "If Nicholas Vogg hadn't have been smoking pot while driving, his judgment at that intersection wouldn't have been compromised," Kozlowski Bourret says in another letter to Klossner. 'Numerous' empty beer cans The second crash occurred at 2:30 a.m. on Sept. 13, 2003, when a car Vogg was driving roared through a stop sign on county Highway P in the Town of Ashippun, hit an embankment, went airborne and landed on its roof in a thicket, spewing "numerous" empty beer cans, according to a Dodge County Sheriff's Department report. When he left the scene, Vogg left his friend, Thomas J. Miller, 21, with a broken leg, a broken elbow and head injuries. Deputies finally found Vogg walking along a county trunk highway, and he readily admitted having been the driver. Blood samples were obtained from him at 9:15 a.m. and 9:30, according to court records, and subsequent tests fixed the alcohol concentration in them at 0.11 and 0.10. A level of 0.08 is considered evidence of intoxication. While undergoing treatment at Beaver Dam Community Hospital, Vogg said he'd been involved in accidents in the past and probably would be in the future, according to a sheriff's deputy's report. "Vogg also told me that he had the best lawyer in Dodge County and that it was well worth the money spent to stay out of jail, as this lawyer could get him out of most of his charges," Deputy Kevin Harvancik said in the report. - --- MAP posted-by: Derek