Pubdate: Wed, 31 Mar 2004 Source: Waukesha Freeman (WI) Copyright: 2004 The Waukesha Freeman Contact: http://www.freemanol.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/770 Author: James Kogutkiewicz DRIVER CHARGED UNDER NEW DRUG LAW Man Allegedly Had Crack Cocaine In His System WAUKESHA - A 44-year-old man alleged to have driven a car in the town of Brookfield after smoking crack cocaine is being prosecuted under a new law targeting drugged drivers. The so-called "Baby Luke Law" was passed in December, almost two years after a fatal crash in Milwaukee killed the unborn baby of Waukesha resident Michelle Logemann. The baby, who was to be named Luke, died six minutes after an emergency Cesarean section was performed to try and save his life. Paul D. Wilson of Kenosha was convicted of homicide by negligent operation of a motor vehicle in the case and sentenced to the maximum two years in prison. State law did not then allow for an operating while intoxicated conviction even though traces of cocaine were found in Wilson's blood. The Baby Luke Law requires prosecutors prove only that illegal drugs were in a driver's system to obtain a conviction. A Waukesha County prosecutor cited the Baby Luke Law when she issued a criminal charge Tuesday against Michael A. Van Patter of Wauwatosa, Waukesha County Circuit Court records show. An operating while intoxicated charge had been brought against Van Patter on March 1 even though a criminal complaint alleged his blood-alcohol content was 0.02 percent, court records show. The charge would have been Van Patter's fifth OWI, court records show. He was convicted of drunken driving four times between July 1990 and May 2002. The arresting officer allegedly found a crack cocaine pipe in Van Patter's vehicle at the time of the arrest. Van Patter allegedly told the officer he had smoked crack cocaine at about 4 p.m. that day, two hours before his arrest along Barker Road near Davidson Road in the town of Brookfield, court records show. Assistant District Attorney Jennifer Dorow issued the new charge against Van Patter, citing a state crime lab report that alleges Van Patter had crack cocaine in his system. Dorow was not immediately available for comment this morning. It is not known if Van Patter's case is the first application of the Baby Luke Law in the state. - --- MAP posted-by: Beth Wehrman