Ashley Kroese has been found guilty after killing a police officer

By Joseph Wenzel, Rebecca Cardenas

Click here for updates on this story

    NASHVILLE, Tennessee (WSMV) — The jury announced Friday that they find Ashley Kroese guilty on all counts.

The prosecution called their final witness, Heather Legieza, who tearfully held up a picture of her husband to the jury.

Police charged Kroese with vehicular homicide in Legieza’s death. Police said a blood alcohol test showed she was over twice the legal limit. In addition, police said Kroese was driving on the wrong side of the road without her headlights on.

Tennessee Bureau of Investigation Nashville Crime Lab official, Jaqueya Ogilvie, testified that the blood taken from Kroese showed that her blood alcohol level was at a .166, more than twice the legal limit.

The defense, however, questioned her with a hypothetical situation: If Kroese only drank five standard drinks over the course of the night, which is what some witnesses testified she’d had, what would her blood alcohol be at the time of the test?

“So, what would the bac have been at the time of this wreck according to those calculations,” Lee Ofman, a defense attorney asked.

“Theoretically speaking all of that alcohol would have been eliminated,” Jaqueya Ogilvie with the TBI answered.

So, are you saying that according to what we have discussed, her bac would have been zero,” Ofman responded.

“I’m saying that based on the amount of time that all those drinks were consumed and the amount of time that had passed and that fact that you’re eliminating as you’re drinking,” Ogilive said. “And the fact that we’re saying that these are all standard drinks, standard concentrations on an individual that had some French fries, yes I do think that all that alcohol had been eliminated.”

“It would be zero,” Ofman responded.

“I do think it would probably be zero, yes,” Ogilvie said.

In response to these statements, the state rebutted, saying it was just a hypothetical and there’s no telling how many drinks Kroese had that night.

News4 reporters at the trial said the question is how will the jury believe Kroese was intoxicated.

Following the announcement of the verdict, the Brentwood Police Department released this statement:

“Today is a bittersweet day for the members of the Brentwood Police Department. This has been an emotional week for all of us. It is difficult to recount the details of June 18, 2020, and to watch the videos of this tragic incident again. We trust in the criminal justice system and feel that justice has been served. But there are no winners or losers in today’s outcome because nothing will bring Destin Legieza back to us. Although we take solace in the conclusion of the trial, there will always be a void in our lives without Destin in it. Please join us in keeping Destin’s family in your thoughts and prayers. His family is our family. We want to sincerely thank the Tennessee Highway Patrol, the Franklin Police Department, the Medical Examiner’s Office, the Tennessee Bureau of Investigators, and the District Attorney’s Office for thoroughly investigating and presenting the evidence in this case which resulted in this verdict. We are truly grateful for their collaborative efforts.” – Brentwood Police Department

Please note: This content carries a strict local market embargo. If you share the same market as the contributor of this article, you may not use it on any platform.