Krueger found not guilty of reckless homicide

SHAWANO — A Shawano man charged with reckless homicide in the death of a 41-year-old Appleton woman in a crash two and a half years ago was found not guilty Friday of that and another felony count after a four-day jury trial.

Brian J. Krueger, 33, was accused of recklessly causing the death of Naomi Gregurich in a two-vehicle crash on state Highway 29 near the intersection of Rangeline Road in the town of Herman on June 29, 2017.

He was also charged with a felony count of reckless injury for injuries sustained by one of Gregurich’s two sons, both of whom were passengers in her vehicle.

A third felony count was amended to a misdemeanor charge of reckless driving-causing bodily harm for injuries to the other child.

After nearly eight hours of deliberations, the jury acquitted Krueger of the two felonies but found him guilty of the misdemeanor.

Krueger was the driver of a 2013 Ford Focus that was traveling east on Highway 29, when he lost control of the vehicle, crossed the median, and struck a westbound 2008 Saturn being driven by Gregurich.

Krueger was driving a delivery vehicle for the Bumper to Bumper auto parts store in Shawano.

Krueger has epilepsy and suffered a seizure while driving.

The state argued at the trial that after several recent seizures — including one just the night before — Krueger would have been aware he should not be driving.

“This case boils down to this — personal responsibility,” said Assistant State Attorney General Tara Jenswold, who prosecuted the case alongside Shawano-Menominee County District Attorney Greg Parker.

“This defendant had a responsibility to take himself off the road,” she told the jury during closing arguments.

Krueger had also been involved in two previous minor accidents also caused by epileptic seizures while driving. He had his driver’s license temporarily suspended after these incidents.

The jury heard testimony over the four-day trial from medical experts, law enforcement that responded to the fatal crash and the two previous minor crashes, witnesses to the crashes and witnesses to Krueger’s epileptic episodes.

The crux of the case, however, came down to the recent seizures the state cited and whether they could be classified as actual seizures or less severe epileptic episodes that wouldn’t have required Krueger to temporarily give up his driving privileges.

The law requires that anyone with a license who experiences an epileptic episode that results in altered consciousness or loss of bodily control must report the incident and be suspended from driving for 90 days for medical review.

The defense argued that the episodes Krueger experienced in the month prior to the crash did not meet that threshold.

Krueger himself took the stand to explain to the jury his epileptic condition and the difference between a grand mal seizure, which would have meant a three-month loss of driving privileges, and a petit mal, which is a brief and less severe epileptic episode.

“Only people with epilepsy understand,” Krueger told the jury, explaining he can sometimes have an episode he can feel but that no one observing him would even notice.

He said he does not lose consciousness or bodily control during these episodes.

He also said the episode he experienced the night before the crash was not really a seizure and that it passed quickly.

Krueger’s defense counsel, John Miller Carroll, also argued it would have been up to the doctors and the Department of Transportation’s medical review board to determine whether Krueger should have been on the road, not Krueger.

Miller Carroll questioned the state’s contention that Krueger was taking a risk by driving the day of the crash that was unreasonable and substantial.

“If he had had a grand mal seizure the day before, that would have been unreasonable,” he said.

He argued Krueger’s actions did not meet the standard of criminally reckless conduct.

Krueger could have faced a maximum 25 years in prison and a $100,000 fine had he been found guilty of second-degree reckless homicide.

The misdemeanor count of reckless driving-causing bodily harm carries a maximum possible penalty of one year in jail.

Sentencing was scheduled for Feb. 7.

tryan@newmedia-wi.com