Mental competency in question for man accused of vehicular homicide
Published 12:00 am Sunday, October 7, 2012
A Pedro man charged with aggravated vehicular homicide pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity at his arraignment Wednesday in Lawrence County Common Pleas Court.
The charges stem from a late June accident in which Nathaniel Bloomfield, 27, of 12246 State Route 93, was driving a 1995 Ford Mustang when he allegedly lost control of the vehicle and struck a tree. The accident occurred near the 12-mile marker on State Route 93 in Elizabeth Township.
Bloomfield and his passenger, John R. Markel, 62, also of Pedro, were ejected from the car. Ohio State Highway Patrol troopers said at the time neither man was wearing a seat belt.
Markel was pronounced dead at the scene by the Lawrence County Coroner’s office. Bloomfield was taken to St. Mary’s Medical Center.
According to Assistant Prosecuting Attorney Brigham Anderson, Bloomfield allegedly had a blood alcohol level of .14 and was driving without an operator’s license.
During the arraignment, Bloomfield’s attorney, Warren Morford, told the court his client has suffered from substantial injuries also, including brain trauma, and is still receiving medical treatment.
Judge Charles Cooper set a $100,000 own-recognizance bond with GPS home monitoring. Bloomfield can only leave his home for medical appointments. A pretrial date will be set when results of the mental evaluation are returned.
In other cases:
• Eugene Dalton, 42, of 287 Township Road 616, South Point, previously pleaded guilty and was sentenced for third-degree driving while under the influence of drugs or alcohol.
“I’m sorry for what I did,” Dalton said. “I’ve got a problem and I need to take care of it.”
Cooper sentenced the man to three years in prison and ordered him to pay a $2,000 fine and suspended his driver’s license for three years.
• Adrien Johnson, 34, of 2045 Oakview Road, Ashland, Ky., previously pleaded guilty and was sentenced for counts of fifth- and fourth-degree trafficking in cocaine and fourth-degree complicity to trafficking in cocaine.
Cooper sentenced the man to 30 months in prison, ordered him to pay mandatory fines and suspended his driver’s license.
• William Wilburn, 37, of 342 County Road 52, Pedro, previously pleaded guilty and was sentenced for two counts of fifth-degree and two misdemeanor counts of criminal non-support.
Cooper sentenced Wilburn to four years community control sanctions under intensive supervised probation. Wilburn must also pay $500 per month in arrears for child support.
• Kimberly Karnes, 45, of 1102 Sunset Terrace, Milton, W.Va., tested positive for oxycodone, opiates, meth and benzos during her court-ordered drug testing.
Cooper double the woman’s bond to $5,000 and scheduled a pretrial for Oct. 24.
• Paul Waginger, 25, of 486 Pittsfield Drive, Worthington, was scheduled to be sentenced but tested positive for marijuana and oxycodone. Cooper increased bond to $25,000 and moved sentencing to Oct. 31.