Brenwalt

ELKINS — Probable cause was found Tuesday in the case of a Beverly man charged after a single-vehicle fatality on the Georgetown Road in April, which will now be considered by a grand jury.

Sidney Austen Brenwalt, 31, is charged with one count of DUI causing death, a felony. He is currently being held at the Tygart Valley Regional Jail on a $100,000 cash-only bond.

Randolph County Magistrate Benjamin Shepler found probable cause in the case during a preliminary hearing on Tuesday. Brenwalt’s case will now go forward to be considered by a Randolph County Grand Jury.

At the start of Tuesday’s hearing, Brenwalt’s attorney, James Hawkins, asked the court to consider a “significant” reduction and modification of Brenwalt’s bond. Hawkins called Amanda Scott, the wife of the victim, Robert Scott, to testify about her and the family’s stance on the bond.

Amanda Scott told the court that she was in favor of lowering the bond and that, ultimately, she would like to see the charges against Brenwalt dropped. She explained that Brenwalt was a relative and that he and Robert Scott were very close. She said that Robert Scott wouldn’t want Brenwalt to go through this. Hawkins asked if the rest of family shared her sentiment, to which Amanda Scott said yes. Several relatives of Brenwalt’s attended the Tuesday hearing.

Assistant Randolph County Prosecutor Leckta Poling also questioned Amanda Scott, asking if alcohol was involved in daily activity between Brenwalt and Robert Scott, to which Amanda Scott said yes. Amanda Scott also stated that she did not see Brenwalt with her husband the day of the wreck.

At the end of the hearing, Shepler denied the motion for bond reduction or modification, citing the time of the accident, 3:30 p.m. on a weekday, as a contributing factor. Shepler said bond is made for two reasons, to ensure the defendant attends hearings and to ensure public safety. Given that the wreck occurred around the end of the work day for many people, and around the time students would be traveling home from school, Shepler said it was a matter of public safety.

During the hearing, Poling called on the arresting officer, Trooper H.J. Bonetti with the West Virginia State Police to testify before the court. Bonetti stated that when he arrived on the scene, he observed a vehicle to be off the roadway, flipped onto its side. Brenwalt was seen “standing” in the vehicle while Robert Scott was found “under” the vehicle. Robert Scott was declared deceased at 3:53 p.m. Bonetti stated that he did not observe any beer cans in the vehicle.

In his testimony, Bonetti said Brenwalt gave a statement on the scene to Deputy Sharp of the Randolph County Sheriff’s Office, who Bonetti believed made the initial call to 911 regarding the wreck, and then gave another statement later at the hospital to Bonetti. Bonetti said he could smell the odor of alcohol on Brenwalt’s breath and administered a field sobriety test at the hospital, which Brenwalt failed. Brenwalt consented to a blood draw, but Bonetti said that, to his knowledge, the sample had not been processed by the State Police lab yet.

Bonetti told the court that, in the hospital, Brenwalt said he drank one Icehouse Edge at noon during his lunch break. Brenwalt said he left work with Robert Scott and was traveling home when the wreck occurred. Brenwalt indicated that he had been the one driving the vehicle.

During cross-examination, Hawkins asked Bonetti questions regarding photos taken at the scene; however, Bonetti stated that the photos were taken by the Randolph County Sheriff’s Office, as Sharp was conducting the investigation into the crash itself, and Bonetti had yet to receive Sharp’s report. Hawkins also asked if Bonetti had spoken with the reconstruction team regarding their findings from the vehicle’s black box or the reconstruction of the crash. Bonetti said he had not.

Hawkins asked Bonetti if he knew whether Brenwalt had a head injury from the wreck, as there was “spidering” on the windshield that implied someone had hit their head. Bonetti said he was unsure if Brenwalt had hit his head, as he had received Brenwalt’s medical records, but had yet to review them. Hawkins then asked if head injuries could interfere with how someone performs on a field sobriety test. Bonetti said it could.

Hawkins also questioned if the odor of alcohol could have come from Brenwalt’s clothes, and whether Bonetti knew Robert Scott’s official cause of death. Bonetti said he did not know.

In closing arguments, Poling called on the court to find probable cause after hearing Bonetti’s testimony. She highlighted that it was unclear who had hit their head on the windshield and that there was no evidence that Brenwalt had a head injury that could have skewed his performance during the filed sobriety test.

Hawkins argued that probable cause should not be found as there was no weight to the field sobriety test or to the odor of alcohol Bonetti smelled. He focused on the lack of information regarding what the black box shows, what the reconstruction team has found and how Robert Scott died. In rebuttal, Poling noted that Bonetti testified on the record that he smelled the odor on Brenwalt’s breath specifically.