A Criminal Court judge denied a request to suppress the results of a blood test of a Carter County man charged with vehicular homicide in connection with a fatal car crash in February 2016.
Jerry Ray Oaks, 34, of 250 Piercetown Road, Butler, appeared in Carter County Criminal Court on Thursday for a motion hearing in the case. Oaks’ attorney, Assistant Public Defender Wesley Taylor, had previously filed a motion seeking to suppress the results of drug tests completed on a blood sample obtained from Oaks following the crash. Taylor asserted in his motion that officers violated Oaks’ constitutional rights when they obtained a blood sample without first obtaining a search warrant ordering the sample collection.
On Thursday, Criminal Court Judge Lisa Rice denied the motion to suppress the evidence and ruled the state could introduce the test results at trial. Rice set the case for trial on August 15-17. She also set a deadline of May 15 to file any further motions in the case and set a motions hearing for May 31.
The charges against Oaks stem from a two-vehicle collision on February 13. The driver of the other vehicle in the crash, 47-year-old Viencen Hitechew, of Roan Mountain, died in the accident.
A Carter County Grand Jury indicted Oaks on one count each of vehicular homicide by intoxication and driving on a revoked license.
The accident happened around 11:20 p.m. on Feb. 13, 2016, on State Route 362 — locally known as Mary Patton Highway or “the new Gap Creek Road,” — near the intersection of the highway and Jim Elliott Road according to the Tennessee Highway Patrol.
In his initial report on the crash, THP Trooper Brad Proffitt said preliminary evidence indicated that Oaks was driving under the influence at the time of the accident. Proffitt had Oaks sent for testing to determine if any alcohol or drugs were present in his system at the time of the accident.
According to Proffitt, Oaks was driving a 2007 Jeep Commander northbound in the southbound lane of Highway 362. Oaks’ SUV struck the 2009 Lexus driven by Hitechew head-on, Proffitt said.
After the two vehicles had collided, Proffitt said both vehicles became “fully engulfed in flames.”
Oaks is scheduled to appear in Carter County Criminal Court on Nov. 21 for arraignment on the charges against him.