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Guilty verdict in Marseilles crash that killed Leland woman · Illinois Valley - Shaw Local

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  Sterling man guilty in Marseille crash that killed Leland woman Written by
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  Tom Collins This article is being read by an automated voice, brought
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  to you by Everlet. A stemming man convicted Wednesday for a drug
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  related crash that killed a Leland woman on Interstate eighty near Marseille
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  is likely headed to prison. Joshua N. Montian, 50, was convicted of
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  two felonies stemming from the crash that killed Joyce Riskdow on august
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  eighteenth, 2023, LaSalle County Circuit Court, Judge Michelle A. Vescogny found him
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  guilty of operating a commercial motor vehicle under the influence, a Class
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  IV felony carrying one to three years. But the superseding charge is
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  Aggravated DUI cocaine, a Class II felony carrying three to fourteen years
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  with only a limited shot at probation. Additionally, Montian must serve at
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  least eighty five percent of his resulting prison time under the State
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  Truth and Sentencing Act. Fascogney ordered Montian into LaSalle County jail while
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  he awaits sentencing set for Tuesday, November 24. Montian will have an
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  opportunity to make a statement at sentencing. At a short bench trial
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  concluded in August, LaSalle County prosecutors produced video evidence and statements showing
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  it was Muntine's Mac truck that collided with a Jeep driven by
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  Riskadel 54, who died from multiple traumas. Carrollstream Defense Attorney Michelle
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  McClellan called to the stand a toxicologist who said the urine specimen
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  investigators collected from Montian, which tested positive for cocaine and cocaine metabolites,
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  might have been unreliable. Dr. James O'Donnell testified that a blood draw
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  is the gold standard for proving intoxication, and that a urine specimen
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  wouldn't necessarily show intoxication at the time of the accident, but instead
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  show residual indicators of past use. We are not disputing this as
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  a tragedy, McClellan argued, adding later, but a tragic accident is not
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  automatically an aggravated DUI. Jeremiah Adams, Assistant LaSalle County State's attorney,
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  argued that the law doesn't require a showing of any concentration of
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  intoxicating compound. There is no responsibility to show the amount of substance,
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  Adam said. Any amount is all that is necessary. Vescogne agreed. In
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  a written ruling she read aloud Wednesday, the judge cited a statement
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  in which Muntian only acknowledged past cocaine use, about twenty years ago,
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  he estimated, which was incompatible with the evidence.