The trial for a man accused of drunken driving that caused the death of a 57-year-old Hagerstown woman in March 2010, was scheduled Monday for March 27, Berkeley County Prosecuting Attorney Pamela Games-Neely said.
Jeffrey Wayne McKinney, 38, of 126 Ramblin Rose Lane in Martinsburg, was indicted in May 2010 on one count of driving under the influence causing death and failure to yield in a March 18 crash that police have said caused the death of Mary Frances Punt.
Punt died at the scene of the collision at the intersection of U.S. 11 and Berkeley Station Road, police have said.
Police have said McKinney admitted to consuming five or six beers at a nearby bar prior to the crash, which happened at about 11:30 p.m. McKinney was not injured, according to police.
Punt was driving north on U.S. 11 from Inwood, W.Va., where she was attending a church function when the accident happened, police have said.
In a pretrial hearing Monday, 23rd Judicial Circuit Judge Gray Silver III heard testimony from Berkeley County Sheriff’s deputies as part of a legal argument over admissibility of evidence and probable cause to stop McKinney at the accident scene and test him for DUI, according to Games-Neely.
Silver did not make any rulings, Games-Neely said.
Adjudication of the case has been delayed at least in part by questions concerning evidence, forensic laboratory work and technical issues, according to Games-Neely.
McKinney is being represented by defense attorney Harley O. Wagner.
— Matthew Umstead
