On September 27th, off-duty NYPD officer Andrew Kelly fatally ran over pedestrian Vionique Valnord, 32, as she tried to hail a cab after a wedding party. Though first responders reported Kelly's breath smelled boozy and he was slurring his speech, his system was devoid of alcohol when his blood was tested... seven hours later. Kelly exercised his right to refuse a Breathalyzer test at the scene (allegedly telling officers, "You're going to have to tie me down") and investigators had to get court order to draw his blood at Kings County Hospital. Now doctors at that hospital have been reprimanded by the state Health Department for initially refusing to draw Kelly's blood, wasting precious time.
According to a November 9th Health Department report obtained under the Freedom of Information law by the Daily News, "an hour went by as doctors sought advice on how to proceed because Kelly refused to cooperate." A medical director at the hospital claimed doctors "were under no legal requirement to comply with the order and could refuse as a matter of conscience." The administrator also insisted that they believed the delay would be inconsequential because a "mathematical formula would allow police to estimate blood-alcohol level even hours after a crash." The problem there is that Kelly tested zero.
A spokeswoman for the Health and Hospitals Corp. lawyer tells the Daily News, "A staff member can choose not to comply if he or she believes that going against the patient's wishes is unethical. If that happens, we find another qualified staff member to do the procedure." But the Health Department cited Kings County for lacking a written policy "to ensure that court orders are carried out by medical staff in a timely manner so that evidence can be obtained." DWI scofflaws take heed: A month after the report was issued, such a policy was finally implemented.
