DUI trial against accused murderer continued

Staff Writer

A year-old DUI case against a Varney man charged with murder will not go to trial as planned today, after a motion by his attorney to continue the case was accepted.

Billy Dwayne Reed, 31, was scheduled to stand trial today on the second of two DUIs with which he had been charged before a January wreck that killed 53-year-old Ronnie Church of Belfry.

Reed is accused of murder in the January wreck, in which police have alleged he was driving under the influence.

Pike District Judge Darrel Mullins had said during a hearing earlier this year that the case would "definitely" be tried in March.

However, on Monday, he accepted a motion by defense attorney Kent Varney asking for more time for an expert witness to examine the toxicology report, filed in the case in September.

Varney wrote in his motion that, while Reed's family had attempted to find a local toxicologist to make an opinion, they had to resort to obtaining an outside toxicologist to prepare a report on the test results.

"The Defendant has yet to receive this report back, and therefore is unable to prepare a proper defense," Varney wrote in the motion filed Monday.

Assistant Pike County Attorney Tommy Chamberlin told Mullins in court Monday the prosecution is "ready" for a trial.

Mullins would not comment on his decision outside of court yesterday, but told the attorneys he understands where the problems can arise when using an expert witness.

"A lot of times, you have to go by their schedule," he said, adding the prosecution would also need time to go over any report an expert witness would file.

The DUI case Reed was expected to be tried on Monday was originally filed in August of last year.

According to court documents, the Pikeville Police Department received a complaint on August 16 of a possibly intoxicated driver leaving the parking lot of the Pikeville KFC.

While on patrol, the arresting officer wrote in the citation, he saw Reed's vehicle, which matched the description of the vehicle in the complaint.

After getting behind the vehicle, the officer wrote, he followed Reed, who was driving on U.S. 119 at 100 miles per hour and crossed the fog line of the road five times.

After being stopped, the citation said, Reed failed field sobriety tests and stated he had drank Wild Turkey earlier in the day.

However, according to the toxicology report, blood and urine tests performed on Reed following his arrest show he had a blood alcohol level of 0.07, which is under the state legal limit of 0.08. The toxicology report also shows a drug test on the blood and urine was not requested.

Mullins reset the trial for May 22. Reed's murder trial in Pike Circuit Court has been set for May 19.