DETROIT, Feb. 13 /PRNewswire/ -- The acquittal on February 6, 2004 of
Peter Nickel, accused of killing his passenger and long-time employee Gary
Rowley while driving drunk, has led to allegations by a prominent Detroit
defense lawyer that police in the case tampered with evidence in an attempt
to
obtain a conviction with the blessing of a local prosecutor, and assertions
by
the automotive forensic scientist hired by the defense attorney that many
prosecutions against drunk drivers are based on unjustified hysteria and
junk
science.
The jury in the suburban Detroit Monroe County Circuit Court (criminal
case #03-32971-FH) was aghast when they heard powerful defense attorney Gary
M. Wilson accuse the police of switching a defective tire which allegedly
blew
out causing Nickel's pickup truck to veer off the road, lose control, roll
over and strike a telephone pole. Rowley was ejected from the truck with a
broken neck and was pinned under the truck's cargo bed. Both Rowley and
Nickel
were intoxicated when the crash occurred.
Defense attorney Wilson called on Florida-based automotive forensic
scientist Sal Fariello to prove that Mr. Nickel was not driving his own
truck
and that in fact the deceased Mr. Rowley was the driver, with Mr. Nickel
riding in the truck's cargo bed. Fariello also showed the jury that a
defective roadway contributed to the loss of control, with the blown tire
likely being the major cause of the crash.
Wilson's accusation that a sheriff's deputy switched the tire to conceal
evidence brought a dramatic turn to the trial, and neither the police nor
the
prosecuting attorney William P. Nichols offered any explanation as to why
the
tire was switched after the crash. Said defense attorney Wilson: "This
was a
witch hunt by an assistant prosecutor presently running for higher public
office and a rush to judgment to convict the wrong man. An attempt was made
to
shred the Constitution and the police and prosecutor should be held
accountable. This sort of thing has been happening far too frequently."
According to forensic scientist Fariello, alcohol cannot be proved to be
the principal cause of many DUI crashes because many crashes would have
occurred anyway even if the driver were sober. Said Fariello: "Convictions
are being obtained with junk science and bad laws that presume a person's
guilt. In many cases as in this one, scientific analysis proves the person
assumed to be driving was not really the driver, and alcohol was not the
actual cause of the crash."
Attorney Gary M. Wilson is one of Detroit's leading defense lawyers and
is
routinely called on by other attorneys to handle difficult cases. Sal
Fariello
served as a forensic expert in the 1993 World Trade Center bombing case and
achieved some notoriety in connection with his criticisms of the auto
industry
in his books "Mugged By Mr. Badwrench" and "The People's Car
Book."
Contacts: Gary M. Wilson, Esq., Wilson & Associates,
(313) 886-5600
gwilson40@aol.com
Sal Fariello, Eastern Forensic Science Group
(352) 527-2028
easternforensic@earthlink.net
SOURCE Eastern Forensic Science Group
Web Site: http://www.accidentforensic.com