Driver With THC in System in Fatal Crash Resentenced to Probation

ST. CHARLES, IL - A 31-year-old Aurora woman who was serving a seven-year prison sentence for a 2009 crash that killed a St. Charles couple will now be placed on probation, the Daily Herald reports.

Kane County judge David Kliment ruled Wednesday the THC in Alia Bernard's body did not contribute criminally to the fatal crash and re-sentenced the woman to probation, according to the article. Bernard, who was required to serve at least 85 percent of the sentence, had only about 1.5 years left in prison before Wednesday's re-sentencing.

Bernard testified she smoked marijuana on the Thursday before the Saturday crash in May 2009 on Route 47 near Elburn, according to the Daily Herald. She pleaded guilty to two counts of aggravated driving under the influence and was sentenced in February 2012.

Test results showed Bernard had marijuana in her system when the crash occurred, according to authorities.

Under state law, prosecutors are only required to prove the presence of illegal drugs in the offender’s system, and not impairment, and Bernard’s attorney highlighted in court last week a recent effort by the General Assembly to rewrite the law, the Daily Herald reports. Her attorney has also argued the methodology for testing Bernard’s blood was flawed.

Wade Thomas, 44, and the passenger on his motorcycle, his wife, Denise Thomas, 45, both from St. Charles, were killed in the May 23, 2009, crash.

According to authorities, a 1999 Toyota Solara driven by Bernard rear-ended another vehicle waiting on Route 47 near the intersection of Smith Road in rural Elburn. This started a chain-reaction involving two other vehicles that were stopped ahead of the vehicle Bernard’s Solara struck, pushing one of the vehicles into the path of oncoming motorcycles traveling on Smith Road. Thomas’ 2000 Harley-Davidson Softtail struck one of the vehicles.

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