ORWIGSBURG - Barbara A. Ressler wept Tuesday when she testified about coming upon a mangled Jeep and the mangled man in it at the scene of a July 2013 accident.
"He just kept asking me to get him out of the vehicle," Ressler said of Daniel E. Wenrich during the preliminary hearing for Amie L. Wiscount, the driver charged in connection with Wenrich's death. "It felt like hours."
Ressler, Ravine, was the prosecution's first witness during the 90-minute hearing, at the end of which Magisterial District Judge James R. Ferrier ordered all charges against Wiscount held for Schuylkill County Court. He also continued Wiscount's $25,000 percentage bail, meaning she would have to post $2,500 to go free pending further court proceedings.
Those charges against Wiscount, 32, of Schuylkill Haven, include homicide by vehicle while driving under the influence, DUI, involuntary manslaughter, recklessly endangering another person, disregarding traffic lanes and careless driving.
State police at Schuylkill Haven charged Wiscount with being under the influence of drugs when she crashed her blue Jeep Liberty about 9:45 p.m. July 26, 2013, on Route 443 just west of Moyers Station Road in Wayne Township.
Police said Wiscount lost control of the Jeep, which left the road, struck a tree, spun clockwise and hit a utility pole. Wenrich, 40, of Pine Grove, died at the scene.
Wearing handcuffs, a belt and a prison jumpsuit, Wiscount said nothing, presented no evidence and sat without changing expression during the hearing as the witnesses described the accident and her reaction to it.
"She said her mother was going to kill her," Ressler said of Wiscount, whom she identified as the driver. "She was angry. She was bouncing around like a jackrabbit ... upset."
Ressler said Wiscount did run around the Jeep trying to get Wenrich out of it.
Kathy Frank, Pine Grove, also saw the crash.
"I looked in my rearview mirror, and I saw the (Jeep) going off the road," Frank said.
Frank turned around, went to the scene and saw Wenrich in the Jeep.
She said she did not recognize Wiscount.
State police Trooper Vincent A. Laselva Jr., the prosecuting officer, testified Wiscount told him she tried to avoid a deer in the road.
"She hit her brakes. Once she hit her brakes, she lost control and she drove off the road" was Wiscount's version of the crash, Laselva said. "She was basically acting in a very excited manner, jittery."
He said Wenrich was alive but trapped in the Jeep when he arrived at the scene.
Wiscount showed signs of being on drugs, which prompted him to ask for a blood-alcohol test, Trooper Mark W. Knock testified.
"She was fidgety. She displayed some body tremors," he said. "She displayed a little bit of a sway. I had suspicion there may have been stimulant usage."
On cross-examination by Assistant Public Defender Christopher M. Riedlinger, Wiscount's lawyer, Knock said Wiscount passed three standard field sobriety tests.
Trooper Thomas Finn testified he took Wiscount to Schuylkill Medical Center-South Jackson Street for the blood-alcohol test, which she agreed to take.
Trooper John Minalda, an accident reconstructionist, testified there were no skid marks that would enable him to judge the Jeep's speed and no sign of a problem with the road.
"The road was dry and nonremarkable," he said.
Minalda also said there were no signs of animals in the area or that the Jeep had any mechanical problems.
Riedlinger asked for dismissal of the homicide by vehicle while driving under the influence charge, saying prosecutors did not prove that Wiscount's alleged impairment led to the crash.
"There's no evidence of impairment at the time on the night of the accident," he said.
However, Ferrier accepted the argument of Assistant District Attorney James P. Flagella, who said the evidence showed there were illegal drugs in Wiscount's system at the time of the accident and there were no mechanical problems with the Jeep.Defendant: Amie L. Wiscount
Age: 32
Residence: Schuylkill Haven
Charges: Homicide by vehicle while driving under the influence, DUI, involuntary manslaughter, recklessly endangering another person, disregarding traffic lane and careless driving