Pocono News Section

Wayne County D.A. Says He'll Look into DUI Death

Wayne County D.A. Says He'll Look into DUI Death - Friday, February 29, 2008 at 7:01PM EST

Reported by: Joe Holden
Friday, Feb 29, 2008 @07:01pm EST
HONESDALE, WAYNE COUNTY- The Wayne County District Attorney says he's reviewing a wealth of evidence in the apparent drunk-driving death of Diane Glynn.

Wayne County D.A. Michael Lehutsky is probing the question, is Dean O'Halloran criminally liable for the death of Diane Glynn? “We're certainly going to look at it. There are some issues here because there's been a delay,” he says.

Police and accident reports show O'Halloran swerved down Route 590 in April, 2005 and plowed into Glynn's car. The Glynn's family lawyer Mark Tanner claims O'Halloran's blood alcohol level was almost twice the legal limit when it was taken two hours after the crash. They also show O'Halloran was in another accident the same day.

For the first time, D.A. Lehutsky is reviewing the steps taken by investigators that Attorney Tanner says were influenced by O'Halloran's step-father, a State Police Corporal.

When asked why the case wasn’t investigated, Lehutsky responded, “I think the answer is that it was investigated, but you can only follow it as far as the facts and evidence take you.”

He says State Police lacked probable cause to order O'Halloran submit to a blood alcohol test. “Without the indicators of alcohol consumption, there was not much further that the police could properly take the investigation,” added the D.A.

However he does say the case will be properly looked at now by his office. “Obviously, we won't stand for impropriety or quashing of any incident by police,” said Lehutsky.

State Police say they've also launched an internal investigation. With the Glynn family's civil case out of the way, it's hoped a criminal proceeding will commence.

We placed several calls to O'Halloran's attorney. They were not returned. State Police refuse to comment if he will be coming in for an interview anytime soon.