Expert Witness Blog
William “Billy” Nichols Jr. is charged with double counts of DUI manslaughter and vehicular homicide in the deaths of two nurses, Nancy and Holly Cummings, on Nov. 26, 2004. Nichols had a blood alcohol level of 0.13 to 0.15 when he lost control of his Ford F-250 truck. The legal limit is .08. The defense contends that Nichols has a medical condition that results in a high blood alcohol level in his stomach hours after drinking but toxicology expert witness for the prosecution, Dr. Mark Montgomery, testified Thursday saying “You can’t fool mother nature or the brain when it comes to alcohol. Ocola.com goes on to report:
The defense is not contesting the blood results but is alleging a medical condition caused alcohol to sit in Nichols’ stomach and not metabolize, which would cause the blood alcohol level in Nichols’ stomach to rise after the crash. (Expert witness) Montgomery disputed the claim. “I’ve never seen any piece of data that suggests … fluid sitting in the stomach and magically starts getting absorbed,” Montgomery said.