New trial date set for driver in St. Patrick’s Day triple fatal wrong-way crash

DAYTON — The trial for the driver charged in a triple fatal wrong-way crash on St. Patrick’s Day in 2019 has a new start date.

The trial for Abby Michaels, 24, will now start on June 5, 2023, according to records filed in Montgomery County Common Pleas Court Monday. Michaels’ trial was originally supposed to begin in February 2022.

Michaels is facing six counts of murder, six counts of aggravated vehicular homicide, and a single OVI charge for the crash that killed three members of a Mason family.

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Timmy Thompson, 51, Karen Thompson, 50, and their daughter, Tessa Thompson, 10, were killed in the crash on March 17.

Police said Michaels was driving north in the southbound lanes on I-75 when she hit a Camry carrying the Mason family.

The judge working on the case has an issue with the evidence linked to the case, more specifically, how the evidence was collected. The judge’s ruling cited how Michaels’ blood was taken after the crash. A Miami Valley Hospital nurse was not able to say whether she swabbed Michaels’ skin with alcohol before drawing blood.

Ohio law says the blood needs to be taken three hours after the violation. Michaels’ blood was taken nearly five hours after the crash.

The judge also takes issue with how the blood was refrigerated. He said the Moraine Police Officer on the case left the hospital and put them in the outgoing mail pickup, and the sample didn’t make it into the refrigerated until thirty-five hours later.

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Michaels’ blood alcohol level was 0.099 grams and the judge found this to be utterly incredible and unworthy of belief and inaccurately and artificially elevated.

Prosecutors will not be able to use the blood to prove their case, according to the Judge.

In June 2021, Montgomery County Common Pleas Court Judge Steven Dankof ruled that the blood alcohol findings from Michaels cannot be used in the prosecution of the case.

In his ruling, Dankof said a Moraine Police Officer lied in statements on court records that were used to get a warrant for a blood sample from Michaels while she was in the hospital.

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