Nurses say Williams wasn’t impaired by drugs when they treated her

Ken Ritter

Saturday, Feb. 10, 2001 | 10:09 a.m.

LAS VEGAS - Two nurses who treated Jessica Williams after she crashed her van and killed six teens testified Friday that she didn't seem to be under the influence of drugs.

The testimony bolstered Williams' lawyer's attempt to convince a jury that the 21-year-old former stripper fell asleep due to fatigue, not drugs, before the March 19 fatal crash.

"She did not appear impaired at all," said nurse Kathleen Olbur, who said she charted Williams' pulse, blood pressure and breathing rate as normal.

"She was clear, she made sense," said Olbur, who helped treat Williams for facial cuts and scrapes about an hour after the 1:40 p.m. crash.

Williams admits she split a pill of Ecstasy with her roommate and fellow dancer after they finished their shift at Little Darlings strip club at 2 a.m. and that they smoked marijuana about two hours before the crash.

Roommate Tania Ozarek-Smith, who was a passenger in the van, told a grand jury that Williams fell asleep while driving home from an overnight visit to a state park about 40 miles from Las Vegas.

The van drifted off Interstate 15 and struck the six teens picking up litter with a county juvenile offender work crew in a median near Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

Williams is charged with driving under the influence of drugs causing death, reckless driving and involuntary manslaughter, felonies. She is not fighting charges of drug possession and use. She could be sentenced up to 120 years in prison.

Toxicologists found Williams' blood had 5.5 nanograms of tetrahydrocannabinol, the active ingredient in marijuana, and trace amounts of Ecstasy. Nevada law sets a 2 nanogram limit for being under the influence of marijuana. Ecstasy is a controlled substance and any possession or use is illegal.

Defense lawyer John Watkins has not said if Williams will tell her story to the jury.

On Thursday and Friday, several witnesses testified that Williams did not seem impaired. A paramedic and emergency medical technician who took Williams by ambulance to University Medical Center in Las Vegas, two nurses and an emergency room physician all said Williams seemed to be functioning normally.

Dan R. Berkabile, a forensic chemist and owner of a Las Vegas toxicology laboratory, testified Friday for the defense that the effects of marijuana wear off 30 minutes to an hour after smoking.

Berkabile's testimony countered that of Dr. Raymond Kelly, a prosecution toxicologist who testified Wednesday that the effect of marijuana is most intense about three hours after smoking.

The jury of seven men, five women and four alternates will be sequestered at a local hotel through the weekend. Trial resumes Monday.

The case has drawn intense media interest, including gavel-to-gavel coverage on local cable television and national attention from Court TV.

On Friday, a court officer downplayed television reports about death threats being made against Williams and her lawyer.

Sgt. William Schank, a supervising bailiff, said representatives from two media outlets told court guards they overheard a man on the steps of the Clark County Courthouse threaten to kill Williams and her lawyer on Thursday.

Schank said the obviously intoxicated man in his 40s was questioned and released. He was not charged and his name was not released.