Supreme Court Weighs Hearing Mississippi DUI Blood Test Case

January 5, 2015

The U.S. Supreme Court will consider Jan. 16 whether to hear an appeal from a Mississippi man seeking to a new trial for an aggravated DUI conviction related to a 2012 accident that left a woman in a coma for weeks.

Court officials said a decision could be announced shortly after the court conference

Frank Gideon Whitaker IV, now 29, is serving a 15-year-sentence from Warren County.

Authorities say Whitaker’s truck collided head-on with a vehicle driven by 54-year-old Cynthia M. Grantham. Grantham remained in a coma for several weeks, according to court records. She suffered head injuries and a shattered leg.

Whitaker argues that a blood test used to determine if he was intoxicated when the accident happened was unreliable and the results weren’t provided to the defense for testing.