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Show Sterger Bound Over To Face Automobile Homicide Charge Sixth Circuit Court Judge David Mower found sufficient cause Oct. 27 to bind over Michael Allen Sterger, 29, Cypress, Calif., on charges of automobile homicide, a second degree felony. Sterger is also charged with possession of marijuana mari-juana and possession of drug paraphernalia, both class B misdemeanors. misde-meanors. He was ordered to answer to the charges in Sixth District Court on Dec. 7 in Panguitch. Judge Mower denied the motion of Slcrgcr's attorney, Phillip Fore-master Fore-master of St. George, to dismiss charges claiming that the prosecution prosecu-tion failed to provide evidence as to the cause of death of Michelle Eck-roth, Eck-roth, 26, of Huntington Beach, Calif. Eckroth died of injuries suffered suf-fered in an accident on the Bun-Trail Bun-Trail in July where the vehicle in which she was riding was operated by Sterger. Foremaster also claimed that the prosecution failed to establish cause for gross negligence, necessary for the second degree charge. Garfield County Attorney Wallace Wal-lace A. Lee presented evidence of marijuana which Garfield County Sheriffs Deputy Shaun Draper said he found in a film canister in the vehicle. Blood tests also revealed evidence of the drug in Sterger's blood, a prosecution witness testified. testi-fied. Testimony of Don Dudrey, Eck-roth's Eck-roth's fiance who was riding in the back scat with her at the time of the accident, revealed that between eight and nine beers each had been consumed con-sumed by Dudrey and by Sterger from approximately 8 a.m. up until the time of the accident in the early afternoon hours, with at least two consumed on the road between the ferry at Bullfrog Marina and the scene of the accident Dudrey provided details relating to the accident scene and the events following, acknowledging that he felt he was intoxicated and that Sterger had consumed beer-for-beer along with him. He said that Eck-roth Eck-roth had neither used drugs nor consumed alcohol. He said Sterger and his wife Gina Sterger shared a marijuana cigarette only minutes before the accident Central to the litigation seemed to be a difference of opinion between be-tween Foremaster and Lee, with Foremastcr claiming that Utah's statute governing the drawing of blood for testing states that only a physician, registered nurse, or practical prac-tical nurse at the request of a police officer may draw blood. Proper authorization au-thorization by law enforcement was acknowledged, but Foremaster questioned the legality of blood drawn by Physician Assistant Peter Hollis of Bullfrog when the statute does not specifically list a physicians physi-cians assistant. Foremaster claimed that Draper conducted an "illegal search" rather than an inventory of the vehicle's contents under which the marijuana was discovered. Draper stated the inventory was standard procedure for a confiscated vehicle. There were discrepancies in the testimony of two officers regarding the speed at which the vehicle impacted im-pacted at the scene, one claiming impact speed of 28 mph, the other, 61. Foremaster provided his own stenotypist to record events in the courtroom as well as an expert in accident reconstruction from Las Vegas. |