Dismissal of DUI Charges Sought for Former Pennsylvania District Attorney

U.S. News reports that legal counsel for Pennsylvania’s former District Attorney, Kathleen Kane, is seeking to have charges of DUI against her dismissed because of insufficient evidence.

Jason Mattioli, Kane’s defense attorney, told reporters with the Scranton Times-Tribune that he also wants to bar prosecutors from presenting any evidence from field sobriety tests, video footage that shows her drinking before her arrest, or testimony regarding her refusal to submit to a breathalyzer test.

The 56-year-old former DA, the first Democrat to be elected to the position within the state of Pennsylvania, is due to be tried in Lackawanna Court for an accident in Scranton on March 12. Kane was charged with driving under the influence of alcohol after she caused a minor crash. 

Officers with the Scranton Police Department responding to the crash said that when approaching Kane’s vehicle, they detected a strong smell of alcohol. Kane’s defense noted that the smell was coming from a passenger in Kane’s car at the time and that she had not been drinking. Kane insists that her vehicle slid on the ice when making a wide turn and caused the crash.

A magisterial judge found sufficient evidence against Kane to warrant sending the case to the Lackawanna County Court for trial. Kane’s attorneys are appealing the ruling. The defense has also argued that affidavits from seven additional police officers responding to the scene said that they detected no scent of alcohol on Kane, nor did she display any other signs of intoxication when she was arrested.

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