Judge:Pot OWI case weak, but up to jury

HASTINGS, Mich. (WOOD) - The prosecution rested its case Tuesday morning in the trial for a man charged in the death of a Barry County sheriff's deputy.

Deputy Chris Yonkers died when the motorcycle he was riding collided with a car driven by Justin Malik on Oct. 17, 2008 on M-43 in Carlton Township.

Malik faces charges of operating a vehicle while intoxicated causing death, operating a vehicle with a suspended or revoked license causing death, and negligent homicide.

Yonkers was not on duty during the crash.

Monday a state police trooper testified that Malik confessed to smoking marijuana a few hours before the crash.

Last year the Court of Appeals overturned a Barry County judges ruling about THC, which creates marijuana's high. The higher court ruled THC is a controlled substance that can be used for a charge of operating while intoxicated.

Defense attorney Jeffrey Kortes motioned that prosecutor Tom Evans did not prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the marijuana impaired Malik's driving.

Barry County Circuit Court judge James H. Fisher said he would let the jury decide, but said that the prosecutor's OWI argument was weak.

Earlier in the morning Sgt. James Campbell, an accident reconstruction investigator for the Michigan State Police, testified he calculated Yonkers was traveling no more than 50 miles per hour at the time of crash. The speed limit at the crash site was 55 mph.

Sgt. Campbell said Yonkers did all he could to prevent the crash.

During defense attorney Jeffrey Kortes cross-examination, Sgt. Campbell admitted it's possible Yonkers' motorcycle snuck up on Malik.

The case is expected to resume Friday. The defense is expected to call its own expert witness before closing arguments to refute some of Sgt. Campbell's findings. Then the jury would get the case.