Kolbe Requests Grand Jury In Three Cases
July 28, 2016 at 4:25 p.m.
Kosciusko County Prosecutor David Kolbe is requesting the Kosciusko Circuit Court to call a grand jury.
The grand jury will investigate the alleged accidental deaths of Kaelie and Anthony Cusick, formerly of Lake Wawasee, and the vehicular deaths of Virgil Helman and Shawnee R. Ulrey. He said that the prosecutor's office has been investigating the Cusick's deaths for some time, and has been planning to call the grand jury.
Both of the Cusick children died in 1996 in what were ruled at the time to be accidents.
Kaelie, 4, was killed when she fell down a flight of stairs. Anthony, 7, died of smoke inhalation in October of 1996 after he was found in a closet where he had apparently been striking matches. According to police at the time, the fire was contained in the closet where matches ignited a coat and the burning coat gave off toxic fumes and smoke that left the boy unconscious.
The grand jury will have to decide if there is enough evidence to prove that the two deaths were not accidental.
Helman, 67, of Cromwell, died in a two-pickup collision on Ind. 13 near Syracuse on Oct. 22. According to police reports, Helman's truck was northbound on Ind. 13 when it made a left turn in front of a southbound truck driven by Edward L. Chivington, 45, North Webster.
Chivington was admitted to Kosciusko Community Hospital for one day. His blood alcohol level was reported to be .188 percent, almost twice the legal limit of .1 percent.
Kolbe said it will be a challenge to try to prove that Helman's death was due to a drunk driver. He said that the Indiana law governing OWI deaths changed this year.
Before July 1, the prosecution had to prove the death resulted from an OWI, but did not have to prove the driver was at fault. The law now states, "the person who causes the death of another when operating a vehicle while intoxicated" can be charged with the C class felony. Kolbe said it will be more difficult to prove the driver at fault under the new law.
Ulrey, 21, Warsaw, was killed Monday afternoon when a semi hit her car at the intersection of U.S. 30 and CR 150W, Warsaw.
According to witnesses' reports to the police, the semi driven by Michael Lee Sanger, 41, of Sabula, Iowa, apparently ran a red light as Ulrey drove through the intersection. Ulrey was killed instantly.
The grand jury will determine if Sanger should be indicted on a criminal recklessness charge for the accident.
Kolbe said the grand jury will be chosen by Circuit Court Judge Rex Reed. This is the first grand jury called by either Reed or Kolbe.
"It is a privelege to present this to our citizens," Kolbe said.
Reed will call jurors from the pool and select them himself. The six- person jury will be in session for 6 months.
Kolbe said the jurors will be given these three cases at his request, but they can choose not to indict. [[In-content Ad]]
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Kosciusko County Prosecutor David Kolbe is requesting the Kosciusko Circuit Court to call a grand jury.
The grand jury will investigate the alleged accidental deaths of Kaelie and Anthony Cusick, formerly of Lake Wawasee, and the vehicular deaths of Virgil Helman and Shawnee R. Ulrey. He said that the prosecutor's office has been investigating the Cusick's deaths for some time, and has been planning to call the grand jury.
Both of the Cusick children died in 1996 in what were ruled at the time to be accidents.
Kaelie, 4, was killed when she fell down a flight of stairs. Anthony, 7, died of smoke inhalation in October of 1996 after he was found in a closet where he had apparently been striking matches. According to police at the time, the fire was contained in the closet where matches ignited a coat and the burning coat gave off toxic fumes and smoke that left the boy unconscious.
The grand jury will have to decide if there is enough evidence to prove that the two deaths were not accidental.
Helman, 67, of Cromwell, died in a two-pickup collision on Ind. 13 near Syracuse on Oct. 22. According to police reports, Helman's truck was northbound on Ind. 13 when it made a left turn in front of a southbound truck driven by Edward L. Chivington, 45, North Webster.
Chivington was admitted to Kosciusko Community Hospital for one day. His blood alcohol level was reported to be .188 percent, almost twice the legal limit of .1 percent.
Kolbe said it will be a challenge to try to prove that Helman's death was due to a drunk driver. He said that the Indiana law governing OWI deaths changed this year.
Before July 1, the prosecution had to prove the death resulted from an OWI, but did not have to prove the driver was at fault. The law now states, "the person who causes the death of another when operating a vehicle while intoxicated" can be charged with the C class felony. Kolbe said it will be more difficult to prove the driver at fault under the new law.
Ulrey, 21, Warsaw, was killed Monday afternoon when a semi hit her car at the intersection of U.S. 30 and CR 150W, Warsaw.
According to witnesses' reports to the police, the semi driven by Michael Lee Sanger, 41, of Sabula, Iowa, apparently ran a red light as Ulrey drove through the intersection. Ulrey was killed instantly.
The grand jury will determine if Sanger should be indicted on a criminal recklessness charge for the accident.
Kolbe said the grand jury will be chosen by Circuit Court Judge Rex Reed. This is the first grand jury called by either Reed or Kolbe.
"It is a privelege to present this to our citizens," Kolbe said.
Reed will call jurors from the pool and select them himself. The six- person jury will be in session for 6 months.
Kolbe said the jurors will be given these three cases at his request, but they can choose not to indict. [[In-content Ad]]