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Posted on 11/16/2001 1:27:04 PM PST by mdittmar

A judge cleared the way Friday for the manslaughter trial of a man who picked up his drunken friend from police, took him back to his truck and learned later that his friend had been in a deadly car accident.

Superior Court Judge William Forester rejected a motion to dismiss the charges against Kenneth Powell and ruled that a jury must decide whether he committed a crime.

Powell, 40, was called by police in July 2000 to collect Michael Pangle, 37, at the Bridgeton barracks. Three hours earlier, Pangle had registered a 0.21 blood-alcohol concentration and was charged with drunken driving.

Less than an hour after he was released, prosecutors say, Pangle slammed his sport utility vehicle into a car driven by 22-year-old Navy Ensign John R. Elliott. Both men were killed.

Powell, who was not in Pangle's vehicle, was charged with manslaughter, vehicular homicide and aggravated assault by auto and faces up to 15 years in prison.

Powell's lawyer, Carl Roeder, had argued that Powell didn't know Pangle was drunk and state police hadn't told him his friend's blood-alcohol level.

To hold Powell accountable would open the door to the prosecution of toll collectors, gas station attendants and anyone else who sees a drunken driver but doesn't prevent them from driving, Roeder said.

Prosecutor Michael Ostrowski argued it was impossible not to know Pangle was drunk, saying his speech was slurred and he could barely stand up.

Returning Pangle to his vehicle, when police had told Powell to take him home, was the equivalent of putting a gun in the hand of someone engaged in a heated argument, Ostrowski said.

"He was an accomplice to a crime that night," Ostrowski said.

Powell, who is free on bail, declined to comment. A trial date has not been set.

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