Mistake in blood alcohol score means charges dropped in OWI death case
Post-Tribune staff report June 19, 2012 2:14PM
Updated: June 20, 2012 6:24PM
Charges were dropped against a Gary man charged with causing death while driving drunk.
Maurice Franklin, 51, had been charged in the death of Gilbert Trice, 68, of Gary, who was crossing Broadway near 25th Avenue when he was struck by a motorcycle driven by Franklin.
Deputy prosecutor Michael Toth said the blood alcohol score provided by Methodist Hospitals Northlake Campus had not been converted to a whole blood score and that Franklin was not intoxicated at the time of the crash on June 1, 2010.
Franklin had been charged with causing death while operating while intoxicated with a blood alcohol level of at least .15 percent, which is punishable by a sentence of six to 20 years.
Franklin did plead guilty in a separate case to theft in exchange for an 18-month sentence that Lake Superior Court Judge Diane Ross Boswell suspended and ordered served on probation.
Franklin also must perform 60 hours of community service.
Franklin admitted on March 12 he stole a taillight assembly from a truck parked at Miller Brake and Muffler in Gary. He was caught a short time later and the parts were returned to the business.
