Jeff Schrier | MLive.com
Bay City attorney Edward M. Czuprynski represents himself during his
arraignment in front of Saginaw County District Judge M. Randall
Jurrens, Friday, March 11, 2016, on a felony charge stemming from a
June, 2015 car-pedestrian crash in Hampton Township. Czuprynski is
charged with operating a vehicle while visibly impaired causing serious
injury.
(Jeff Schrier )
By
BAY CITY, MI — Lab results indicate Bay City attorney Edward M. Czuprynski had prescription medications in his blood when he struck a pedestrian with his car.
Police submitted the samples for testing as part of their investigation into a collision involving Czuprynski and 52-year-old James S. Stivenson on the night of June 16. Police have said Czuprynski at about 10:24 p.m. was driving a 2003 Buick LeSabre east on Center Avenue when his vehicle struck pedestrian Stivenson near the intersection of Scheurmann Road in Hampton Township.
The lab results show there was no alcohol in Czuprynski's blood. The testing showed THC-COOH, phentermine, temazepam and oxazepam. THC is the active ingredient in marijuana that causes psychoactive effects.
"THC-COOH is just shorthand for a metabolite of THC," said Geoffrey French, toxicology unit supervisor at the MSP Forensic Laboratory in Lansing. "It's an indicator of past marijuana use. It's an inactive metabolite. It no longer has the psychoactive impact THC does on the central nervous system. Its presence in a blood sample can't really equate with any level of intoxication."
French added that as THC-COOH is an inactive metabolite, it's difficult to pin down when marijuana was used.
"It all depends on the individual," French said. "If it was a singular dosage, I would say you would probably have a 24-hour window for THC-COOH to be detected in blood. If it's a regular user, all bets are off. It can be detected for a couple of weeks, probably."
Czuprynski is medical marijuana patient.
"To the best of my knowledge, I had not used that day or recently," Czuprysnki said. "The blood test shows that. I don't use daily. I use when I need to for arthritic pain."
Czuprynski said the findings vindicate him.
"It proves that I could not have been impaired at the time of the accident, because it shows zero alcohol, zero marijuana, and the finding on the sleeping pills corroborate what I told police," Czuprynski said.
"I took the sleeping pill just as I left the office to drive home. If I ingested it 5 minutes before the accident occurred, and a toxicologist has told me it takes anywhere from 15 to 30 minutes for that drug to begin to enter the bloodstream, then it shows no sleeping pill in my blood or anything else that could have possibly impaired my driving."
Temazepam and oxazepam are both benzodiazepines, central nervous system depressants, and can have effects similar to those of alcohol, French said. Temazepam is in the prescription sleep aid Restoril. They're used to treat insomnia, depression and anxiety, French said. While they can cause confusion, dizziness, and impairment, that's not always the case, French said.
"As with any compound ingested, the person's tolerance to the medication and the amount of medications ingested will impact each individual differently," French said. "It's possible to take a benzodiazepine and have very little side effect."
Phentermine is to amphetamines and is a stimulant, French continued. It's commonly used in the prescription medication Adipex for weight reduction.
Phentermine, oxazpem and temazepam are all Scheduled IV controlled substances under the federal Controlled Substances Act.
French said it's not uncommon to have both stimulants and depressants in a subject's blood.
"There is a misconception sometimes that taking a stimulant and a depressant at the same time, of 'Won't they counteract each other?' Not necessarily," he said. "You can have side effects from both at the same time. Most of our cases are going to involve multiple drugs. A high percentage of our cases, we see three, four, five, six different drugs."
He said depressants generally cause most problems on the road.
"They can have such a significant impact on one's ability to safely operate" a motor vehicle, he said.
In response to a Freedom of Information Act request, the Hampton Township Police Department provided The Bay City Times with the laboratory reports. The blood samples were submitted to the Michigan State Police Forensic Laboratory in Lansing on June 19 and concluded Nov. 17.
The lab quantified 321 nanograms of temazepam per milliliter of blood and 9 nanograms of THC-COOH per milliliter of blood. The amounts of oxazepam and phentermine were not quantified, as the lab doesn't measure concentrations for those two substances, French said.
Police who responded to the crash site requested a Michigan State Police drug recognition expert visit the scene to conduct an evaluation of Czuprynski. Hampton Township Police Lt. Michael Wedding has said Czuprynski did not immediately consent to sobriety tests but eventually submitted to a preliminary Breathalyzer test.
Police requested a search warrant for Czuprynski's blood for a chemical test. The warrant alleged Czuprynski's eyes were bloodshot and glassy, his face appeared flushed, and his stance was swayed.
The warrant indicates Czuprynski "stated he took (an) unknown sleeping pill prior to driving," and was falling asleep in the back seat of a patrol vehicle.
Bay County District Judge Timothy J. Kelly signed the warrant. Staff at McLaren Bay Region hospital took a sample of Czuprynski's blood, which was then sent to the Crime Lab.
Czuprynski on Friday, March 11, was arraigned in Saginaw County District Court on one count of operating a motor vehicle while visibly impaired by a controlled substance causing serious bodily impairment. The charge is a five-year felony.
The Bay County Prosecutor's Office has recused itself from the case. The Michigan Attorney General's Office assigned the Genesee County Prosecutor's Office to try the case.
Czuprynski said he was going the speed limit and was in his proper lane when his car struck Stivenson.
Stivenson was walking south toward the Rebel Food Store and was in the crosswalk of the southernmost lane when struck in the four-lane road, police have said.
"I think anyone who was driving a car at that precise time and location as I was would have hit him," Czuprynski said.
Czuprynski, who is representing himself, said the prosecution does not have a case.
"I'm confident I can win this," he said.
French said toxicology results on their own don't exonerate or convict Czuprynski.
"You really have to judge these cases on case-by-case basis and use the subject's behavior to gauge if the subject was under the influence."
Czuprynski is due to appear in court for a preliminary examination at 1:30 p.m. Friday, April 15.
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