Tarr Attends Final Pre-Evidentiary Hearing

By, Terra Rivers, Managing Editor

Buda Realtor, Jason Tarr and his defense attorney Billy McNabb, returned to court yesterday morning to continue his pre-trial evidentiary hearing with Judge Jack Robison presiding.

On Aug. 29’s pre-trial evidentiary hearing, the defense proposed to have the blood alcohol content results suppressed. The court heard the prosecution’s witness testimony of Samuel Salinas with the Department of Public Safety breath alcohol laboratory and the defense’s witness, Dr. Thomas S. Pittman, toxicology expert.

Pittman testified that he questioned the credibility of Tarr’s blood alcohol content (BAC) test results, which supported the defense’s motion to have the BAC suppressed from evidence.

Today, the court listened to the conclusion of Pittman’s testimony, and the testimony of Forensic Scientist, Anna Mudd, with DPS.

Mudd said that the documents presented to the court from the DPS laboratory did not indicate the policy was not followed, and she did not feel the tests needed to be re-run.

The Department of Public Safety laboratories were recertified by the American Society of Crime Laboratory Director/ Laboratory Accreditation Board in August 2016. The hearing adjourned around 3:00 pm without a decision on the motion to suppress the BAC results made.

Robison said he will wait until the findings and records are submitted before he makes a decision.

Tarr and his attorney, McNabb, are expected to reappear in court for a jury trial on May 1.

On Sept. 29, 2014, Tarr was allegedly driving while intoxicated on FM 1626 when his F150 Ford Pickup struck the vehicle of 60-year-old, Nancy Sterling-Dalton, head on. Sterling-Dalton was declared dead on the scene, and Tarr was taken into custody on Sept. 30, 2014.

Tarr was indicted for intoxicated manslaughter on Oct. 21, 2015. The defendant faces charges of intoxicated manslaughter and murder.