Interestingly enough, the drunk driver’s husband is a police sergeant.
Holly Gonyeau, 36, didn’t have her blood alcohol level tested until two hours after the crash, but it still came up over the legal limit at.087. She also admitted to taking the prescription benzodiazepine Xanax which, when mixed with alcohol, can greatly impair a person’s ability to operate a vehicle. Police noted that Gonyeau’s eyes were bloodshot and watery at the scene and that her breath smelled of booze.
Still, in a Middlebury, Vermont, courtroom she plead not guilty to the DUI.
"We don't believe it had a role other than she was impaired but as far as the collision itself it didn't have a factor in this," Lt. Garry Scott of the Vermont State Police told WCAX.
The state police team decided that Charlotte radiologist Ken Najarian was at fault for his own death. They allege that Gonyeau had crossed the center lane to give Najarian space so she could pass him, but that he made an abrupt U-turn and collided with her.
"We're deeply concerned that there are issues in the judgment of those who investigated this and misciting the law. This was not Dr. Najarian's fault," Ben Luna, a lawyer for cyclist's family, told WCAX.
Luna has called the police affidavit “troubling” and “grossly inaccurate.” He also plans to hire an independent crash reconstruction expert to re-analyze the case, stating he will "scrutinize it closely to ensure there was no taint in this case and if there was we'll find it."
The lawyer and the family of the victim are pushing for charges including negligent operation or DUI with a death resulting. Gonyeau is set to appear back in court on August 24.
The department maintains that the lack of charges has nothing to do with who she’s married to.
