POUGHKEEPSIE – The DWI trial for Poughkeepsie Common Council Chairperson Sarah Salem resumed on Thursday with the prosecutors showing bodycam footage from three officers on the scene on February 26, 2020. The primary focus was the administering of the Field Sobriety Test (FST) issued by Poughkeepsie Police Officer James Simmons that night.
The full account of the accident, DWI arrest, and delayed trial can be found here.
After the prosecution rested their case Thursday morning, Salem’s attorney Steven Patterson made a motion for the case to be dismissed because the prosecution failed to prove their case. Judge Volkman denied the motion and Patterson began his cross-examination of Simmons, the arresting officer. Patterson attempted to discredit the process in which Simmons administered the FST, which led to Salem’s arrest.
Patterson then implied that the arrest was politically motivated because Simmons was a member of the City of Poughkeepsie Police union, the PBA, which was involved in contract negotiations with the council at the time he arrested Salem.
Simmons denied having knowledge of who Salem was before arriving at the accident scene and noted that another officer had to point out which one was Salem. Moving from the political allegations, when questioned, Simmons admitted that he failed to ask Salem if she had any existing medical conditions or was taking any medication that would interfere with the FST.
After police testimony, the defense attempted to have a retired New Jersey cop certified as an expert witness. Frank Novakowski, owner of Frank Novakowski DWI Consulting, took the stand and presented credentials that Patterson attempted in having the witness certified by the court as a DWI expert.
After being questioned by both sides, Patterson withdrew his request to have the witness certified. Judge Volkman advised the jury that Novakowski’s testimony should not carry any more influence than other witnesses.
Novakowski was contracted by the defense and issued a report in June of this year after reviewing pre-trial hearing transcripts and bodycam footage. He testified, “She (Salem) did not exhibit any signs of intoxication.” The witness was paid $625 for his report and charged the defense an additional $900 for his court appearance. The witness testified that Officer Simmons’ claim that Salem failed the heel-to-toe test was erroneous based on his observation of the video. The prosecutor replayed the video of Salem performing the test and pointed out that a railing was blocking the view of Salem’s feet to which the witness had no response.
The last defense witness on Thursday was Dr. Robert Powers, associate professor of Forensic Sciences at the University of New Haven. He is also the author of a toxicology textbook and served as the Connecticut director of Controlled Substances and Toxicology.
Dr. Powers provided testimony regarding the rate at which alcohol is dispersed in the body based on the amount of alcohol consumed by a person and their stomach content. The doctor said the results of the FST administered by Officer Simmons showed inconsistencies, noting that Simmons said Salem provided three clues during the horizontal gaze nystagmus (HGN) test but only found one clue in each of the subsequent tests.
The HGN is used to measure nystagmus, which is the medical term for involuntary jerking of the eyeballs. Nystagmus can occur for many reasons but becomes more pronounced when someone is intoxicated. When asked on Wednesday to describe what Salem’s eyes looked like during the test he said, “They looked like windshield wipers going across a dry windshield.” Simmons claims the defendant provided two additional clues to her intoxication during the HGN and also, according to Officer Simmons, failed to maintain balance and was unable to fully perform the heel-to-toe walking test. Dr. Powers says that three clues in the first test, followed by only two more clues, were inconsistent.
The trial is scheduled to resume in Poughkeepsie City Court at 10 a.m. Friday.
