Williams’ attorney points to blood test results

Kim Smith

Wednesday, Feb. 21, 2001 | 11:34 a.m.

Defense attorney John Watkins is using the blood tests from another high-profile fatal crash to bolster his contention that Jessica Williams should be granted a new trial.

A motion filed by Watkins on Tuesday says tests of Juanita Kim McDonald's blood by a Metro toxicologist and by the Associated Pathologists Laboratories within two weeks of each other came up with far different results.

Metro's toxicologist found 12 nanograms of THC in McDonald's blood, and APL found 33, Watkins said.

Such a discrepancy could have existed in the Williams case, but no one will know, because APL didn't refrigerate Williams' blood after it was tested for the state, Watkins said.

As a result, defense experts could not accurately test the blood, and Williams was denied a chance to cast doubts on the state's blood tests, Watkins said.

Williams, 21, was convicted Friday on six counts of driving under the influence of a prohibited substance in connection with a crash that killed six teenagers on Interstate 15.

Jurors found that Williams had 5.5 nanograms of THC in her blood at the time of the crash, violating a new law that sets a limit of 2 nanograms of THC as a standard for driving under the influence.

McDonald was arrested April 19 after her vehicle struck and killed a tourist who was walking in front of the Aladdin hotel-casino. Police said McDonald had marijuana, Ecstasy and methamphetamine in her system. The accident also injured several other people.

Watkins believes that if his experts had been able to test a refrigerated sample of Williams' blood, they may have been able to show that APL tested a sample with more red and white blood cells in it than plasma.

Red and white blood cells tend to show higher THC levels than plasma does, Watkins wrote in his motion.

Watkins further contends prosecutors knew all along the blood was not being refrigerated.

Prosecutors Gary Booker, Bruce Nelson and James Hartsell have not yet responded to Watkins' motion. However, in a motion during Williams' trial last week, the prosecutors said they didn't learn until the trial that the blood had not been refrigerated.

They added that there are no industry standards that require the refrigeration of blood.

They also argued that Watkins' own experts testified that blood tests aren't reliable after six months even when the blood is refrigerated. Watkins waited 11 months to test the blood.

The prosecutors told District Judge Mark Gibbons that Watkins purposely waited that long because he knew THC levels drop over time.

Gibbons is expected to hear arguments on the issue March 2.

Williams is scheduled to be sentenced March 30. She could receive as much as 120 years if Gibbons opts to give her the maximum sentence of 20 years on each charge and runs them one after the other.

Watkins said that if Gibbons denies his motion, he will appeal to the Nevada Supreme Court.

Watkins also plans to challenge the law under which Williams was convicted as unconstitutional. He also says he should have been able to argue that Clark County was responsible for the crash, because the victims were performing community service as punishment for petty crimes.