PotShot

Expert: Driver in fatal had drugs in system
Gordon Wilczynski | Macomb Daily | July 15, 2006

Police said a 21-year-old Madison Heights man had illegal drugs in his system when he crossed five lanes of Dequindre Road and crashed head-on into a car, killing a Sterling Heights woman.

Dijela Ljucaj, 51, was returning home the evening of Feb. 23 from her job as a cook at Brenda's Restaurant in Farmington Hills. Her car was hit by a pickup truck driven by Shawn Randall Cates.

A Michigan State Police toxicology expert testified in a preliminary examination Friday that Cates had two illegal drugs in his system when he drove his car into Ljucaj's Chevrolet.

District Judge Sherman Faunce bound Cates over to Macomb County Circuit Court to face charges of second-degree murder, operating a vehicle under the influence of drugs and involuntary manslaughter.

Assistant Prosecutor Steve Kaplan said he had to show that Cates acted with malice. "He had drugs in his system," Kaplan said. "He created a high risk of bodily harm, causing death."

Defense attorney Shawn Smith said the death was an accident and that second-degree murder is an "overcharge."

He said none of the officers who testified in the preliminary examination testified that Cates showed signs he was under the influence of drugs.

"It's a tragedy," Smith said. "The difference between life and prison and 15 years is great. There is no evidence of willfulness, wantonness."

Bruce Cupp, a probation offer with the 43rd District Court in Madison Heights, said he interviewed Cates earlier Feb. 23 during a probation hearing. He said Cates didn't appear under the influence of drugs. Cates was on probation for a prior marijuana charge.

Warren Detective Cpl Randal Ricotta, an accident reconstruction specialist, testified that he sent Cates' blood to the Michigan State Police laboratory Lansing for analysis. A report came back saying he had ecstasy and marijuana in his blood.

Dr. Michele Glinn, a state-employed toxicologist, said Cates ingested the drugs within 12 hours before the collision.

Ricky Sanders, 36, of Warren, testified Thursday that Cates was behind him at a traffic light on Dequindre and Nine Mile Road. He said Cates went around him in the right lane, cut across his lane and went into the far southbound lane and struck Ljucaj.

Ricotta estimated that 54 to 61 miles per hour in a 35 miles per hour zone.

Mrs. Ljucaj is survived by her husband and three children.

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