Motion for DNA test filed after woman is convicted in deadly DWI crash

The lawyer for a woman convicted in a 2012 deadly DWI crash in Montgomery County has now filed a motion for further DNA testing following the trial.

Kelli Smith, of Columbia, was convicted earlier this month in a wrong-way crash that left one man, Thomas Sullivan, dead.

A major topic in the case was evidence that Smith had been possibly drugged and raped before the crash.

A witness in the trial explained Smith’s blood sample following the crash wasn’t accurate because it was taken hours after the wreck and then left not refrigerated for days.

At the time of the crash, Highway Patrol troopers had to extricate Smith from her car, where they found her unconscious and naked from the waist down.

Ultimately the jury found Smith guilty in the crash.

However, Smith’s lawyer, Jennifer Burkowsky, filed a motion Wednesday for DNA testing of the cervical swab taken from a rape kit performed on Smith after the crash.

The Missouri State Highway Patrol did not test this swab for DNA following the wreck.

The motion says the test “is necessary to pursue leads to exculpatory evidence and to protect Kelli Smith’s constitutional rights.” It also states “it is in the interest of public safety to look for male DNA because if such DNA is present, there is a rapist that preyed upon and forcibly raped a 22-year-old girl in Columbia, Missouri and the public has an interest in investigating this crime to prevent it from happening again.”

The proposed order requests the Highway Patrol release the swab from the rape kit to PTC Labs in Columbia for DNA testing.