Rulings go against defense in Raleigh DWI case

RALEIGH -- The defense team representing Raymond Cook has failed twice in attempts to suppress test results showing that his blood alcohol content was well over the legal limit when he was involved in a crash that ended the life of an aspiring ballerina.

On Monday, during the fifth day of testimony, Roger Smith Jr. unsuccessfully argued that Cook was denied his right to have a witness present when blood was drawn.

The defense team has been trying to quash blood evidence to punch back prosecutors' contentions that Cook acted with malice. They argue that he consumed large quantities of alcohol, got into the driver's seat and traveled so fast that he knew he could have caused injury.

Cook is on trial for driving while impaired and second-degree murder in the death of Elena Bright Shapiro.

To prove second-degree murder, prosecutors must show that Cook acted with malice. How much alcohol he consumed could play into their arguments to the jury.

Prosecutors have contended that Cook sped down Strickland Road on Sept. 11, 2009, at nearly twice the posted speed and with a blood-alcohol content nearly twice the legal limit.

Gwynne Cook, the wife of the 44-year-old father of two, took the stand Monday afternoon while the jury was out of the room to describe her endeavors to be with her husband in an emergency department exam room hours after the crash.

The Cooks were scheduled to eat an evening meal with friends on the night of the collision. Raymond Cook spent the afternoon at the Raleigh Country Club, playing golf and drinking with his buddies, according to testimony.

Afterward, he went to Piper's Tavern in North Raleigh, where he ordered at least two 12-ounce glasses of Crown Royal whisky and ginger ale, according to testimony. He didn't finish either cocktail, according to the waitress who served him.

After 8 p.m., according to testimony in Wake County Superior Court over the past five days, Cook got into his black Mercedes and sped along North Raleigh roads, traveling at what several witnesses have estimated at 75-to-100 mph.

Near Lead Mine Road, Cook's Mercedes rammed the back of a silver Hyundai being driven by Shapiro, a Carolina Ballet apprentice at the threshold of a promising dance career.

An emergency room doctor who saw Cook at WakeMed North in the hours after the accident testified last week that a blood test done in the hospital for treatment purposes, not for law enforcement, showed his blood-alcohol content to be 0.24, three times the legal limit of 0.08. The defense team has postulated that lactic acid, which can be released after a traumatic incident, can cause elevated alcohol readings in blood tests.

Law enforcement officers had already placed Cook under arrest and had a nurse draw blood for their investigation.

Defense lawyers argued in court Monday that law enforcement test results should not be presented to the jury because Cook's wife or lawyer were not in the room with him.

Gwynne Cook, in emotional testimony, said she had tried to get into the exam room with her husband, but three police officers sent her away to a nearby waiting area.

Prosecutors argued that Cook had not asked to have his wife present. After a police officer read him his Miranda rights, prosecutors said, Raymond Cook asked to call his attorney.

Judge Osmond Smith ruled against the defense later Monday, saying Cook had not asked to have a witness present.

Cook told a police officer he understood his rights, the judge pointed out, and asked to call an attorney.

The trial broke for the evening before the State Bureau of Investigations agent could testify in front of the jury about the results of the law enforcement blood test.

Prosecutors could rest their case late today.

It is unclear whether the defense will call any witnesses in the case.