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Last updated on Thursday, April 19, 2012
(INDIANAPOLIS) - FBI agents will try to determine who violated a court order and removed vials of IMPD Officer David Bisard’s blood samples from a refrigerator in the department’s property room.
Bisard was on duty when he struck motorcyclists stopped at a red light on Aug. 6, 2010, killing Eric Wells and injuring Kurt Weekly and Mary Mills, police said.
A blood test administered about two hours after the crash showed that Bisard had a blood-alcohol content level of 0.19 percent.
Bisard was charged with seven felonies, but former Marion County Prosecutor Carl Brizzi withdrew alcohol-related charges because he doubted the evidence would be admissible in court because standard procedures weren't followed in the way the evidence was procured.
On Tuesday, police revealed that vials of the blood sample sat on a shelf for five months in room temperature conditions in an off-site storage facility, RTV6's Jack Rinehart reported.
City-County Council Public Safety Committee Chairwoman Mary Moriarty Adams said that stricter polices should be placed on the IMPD property room.
"It's pathetic. It's so unfortunate. One thing I recommended to Director (Frank) Straub was for there to be a policy written on procedures in the property room," Moriarty Adams said.
According to the Straub, several vials of blood, including those of Bisard, were negligently or intentionally removed from the property room, actions that will likely impact defendants and victims, RTV6's Jack Rinehart reported.
Prosecutors wanted Bisard's second blood vial tested to see if it matched the first, which showed his blood alcohol level after the accident at 0.19, but 67 witnesses told the FBI that they detected no signs of alcohol consumption.
Attorney John Kautzman represents Bisard and said the mishandled vial of blood was an essential piece of evidence in the case.
"We now will never be able to have it tested or verified to see what was going on with the sample. So, here's a piece of potentially exculpatory evidence that was in the hands of the state, hopeful to be used by the defense to be tested. And now, poof, it's gone," Kautzman said.
FBI agents did not disclose details about their investigation. Defense attorneys in the case said they plan to challenge the admissibility of the second blood sample on the grounds that improper storage attacked the viability of the case against Bisard.
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