It may be "impossible'' to determine how much alcohol a cop allegedly consumed before mowing down a preacher's daughter, but Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly says the case against NYPD veteran Andrew Kelly will proceed anyway.
Andrew Kelly, who was off-duty at the time of the accident, has pleaded not guilty to vehicular manslaughter and driving while intoxicated in the death of 32-year-old Vionique Valnord, who was killed as she tried to hail a cab following a wedding reception.
Investigators are trying to determine whether colleagues tried to cover up for the accused officer by delaying his blood test, which was administered more then seven hours after Andrew Kelly allegedly struck Valnord and showed no traces of alcohol.
Authorities had obtained a court order and drew Andrew Kelly's blood at Kings County Hospital and the result was negative for alcohol: .00, said a source.
Confusion at the hospital and a lag in notifying prosecutors contributed to the delay in administering the test to Andrew Kelly, sources said.
Commissioner Kelly says it's unlikely investigators will be able to determine how much booze was in Andrew Kelly's system at the time of Sunday's crash in Brooklyn.
"It comes a point of time where … apparently it's impossible to do that, but this case is going forward," Commissioner Kelly told the Daily News.
The police commissioners remarks come as the NYPD's Internal Affairs Bureau investigates whether responding cops tried to cover-up booze on Andrew Kelly's breath by plying him with gum and water and delaying the test, which is the most critical piece of evidence in a DWI case for the prosecution.
Andrew Kelly and one of this three passengers, Officer Michael Downs, worked at the Yankees-Red Sox game at Yankee Stadium on Saturday in the Bronx before driving back to Brooklyn, where Kelly told cops he went to a bar, reports the News. Then Kelly went to another bar, where he chugged up to eight beers, according to the paper.
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The NYPD veteran stayed at the scene to try to help Valnord after he hit her, while Downs and the two other passengers fled. Authorities said Kelly's breath reeked of alcohol, his speech was slurred and he refused to take a Breathalyzer test. He also refused to allow responding officers to draw his blood.
The NYPD's Internal Affairs Bureau called the Brooklyn district attorney's office at about 1:55 a.m. -- more than an hour after the crash. Prosecutors called the home of Brooklyn Criminal Court Judge Joseph Gubbay, who issued a warrant at 5:30 a.m. to have Kelly's blood tested for alcohol, reports the News.
When the 30-year-old cop showed up at Kings County Hospital – the same place Valnord was pronounced dead -- just before 6 a.m. he refused to give blood. The doctor on call refused to draw Andrew Kelly's blood for 45 minutes because he wrongly believed consent was required to do so.
A source familiar with the doctor's behavior says he likely won't be reprimanded because he was erring on the side of patient confidentiality laws, reports the News.
"That was his concern, but as soon as he was called by administration and told that there was a court order, he took the blood," the source told the paper.
Meanwhile, police sources told the NY Post that a police officer has been suspended for giving Kelly a stick of gum and water after he arrived at the 63rd Precinct.
