KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Former Kansas City Chiefs coach Britt Reid is charged with driving while intoxicated-serious injury more than two months after he was involved in a crash that left a 5-year-old girl seriously injured.
The DWI charge is a Class D Felony in Missouri since it was a crash involving alleged impairment and criminal negligence, but there might be some challenges in prosecuting the case.
Brian Leininger, with Leininger Law Offices, said the reason it’s a felony charge is because the crash left that little girl, Ariel, with severe injuries.
“It’s pretty much what I would expect it to be, the investigation and the charges,” Leininger said.
Reid’s blood level could be key to this case.
A hospital test of Reid’s blood serum, taken about an hour and a half after the crash, showed his blood alcohol concentration to be at .113, which is over the legal limit of .08, according to Jackson County court documents.
“It can be used in a criminal case. It’s a little more difficult,” Leininger said.
Leininger said the problem with a serum test is it returns results that are higher than if you tested whole blood.
“Usually by 10-20%,” Leininger said. “So they usually make a calculation based on that, and then whether it’s admissible or not is another question.”
Court documents show detectives did run a whole blood test on Reid’s alcohol level. We know it took time for investigators to get a warrant to draw that blood.
Three hours after the crash, it was still at a .07 and three and a half hours later, it had dropped to a .06.
“One thing that benefits the prosecution is they have three data points, the three different tests and the times,” Leininger said. “So it makes a little more of a graph to follow. There’s still a lot of variables so it makes it very tricky.”
During a DWI field sobriety test, officers said Reid showed 4 of the 6 clues of intoxication. The officer also noted Reid smelled of alcohol and his eyes were bloodshot and red, according to charging documents.
High speed was also a factor. Court documents show Reid was driving 82 mph in a 65 mph zone on the I-435 ramp, just one second before impact.
“All those will be facts in consideration in the case,” Leininger said.
Reid told police he looked over his left shoulder to merge from Raytown Road onto I-435. He said he didn’t see the first car because it didn’t have any lights.
The Jackson County Prosecutor’s Office also said Reid has had two other alcohol-related incidents in Pennsylvania and Arizona.
If convicted, Reid could face up to 7 years behind bars.
In cases like these, Leininger said it’s not uncommon to see a plea deal, where Reid would likely not serve the maximum time.
In the video below, metro attorneys Melinda Clark-Sann and Phil LeVota join FOX4’s John Holt to analyze the evidence prosecutors had to arrest Reid and how the case could play out.
