NORWICH – The third day of the trial involving Thomas Toomer, 34, of Oxford, took place last Friday, July 1.

It was alleged that Toomer, on April 3, 2015, on State Highway 220 in the Town of McDonough, was involved in a motor vehicle accident while under the influence of alcohol. Tumor was charged with DWI – common law and driving while in excess of .08 percent of alcohol in his blood stream.

Leading the prosecution's case was Chenango County District Attorney Joseph McBride. Defense Attorney Kevin O'Brien represented the defendant, while The Honorable Judge Frank B. Revoir Jr. presided over matters.

The third day started with the closing statement from the defense. “Any time the government presents a case, you have to look at it with a healthy dose of skepticism,” began O'Brien.

O'Brien focused on the many inconsistencies in the case that the people presented against Toomer, and in particular on New York State Trooper Andrew Simcoe’s testimony. Simcoe was the officer who investigated the accident and subsequently arrested Toomer.

O'Brien described the many mistakes that the trooper made, including prior testimony from the trooper that he had 35 hours of training with dealing with DWI arrests, when in fact, it is mandated that troopers have at least 80 hours of training.

“He (Simcoe) made several mistakes. That's a major, major problem when trying to convict a citizen. You can't just change versions of events and convict a U.S. Citizen,” said O'Brien. Mr. O'Brien also depicted in his closing statement that there was no scientific evidence of the actual accident, apart from a drawing drafted by Trooper Simcoe.

O’Brien portrayed that Ayan Mohamed, one of the drivers involved in the accident, took photos of the damage to her car in order to show her insurance.

“The government didn't do that, and they want to convict a U.S. Citizen,” said O'Brien. “He (Simcoe) arrived in a State Police vehicle, not a 74 El Camino with a.m. radio. (This is) not a minor point. We're in 2016, not 1964.”

O'Brien also conveyed that both drivers involved in the accident testified that there was no odor of alcohol coming from Toomer, and that he didn't appear to be intoxicated.

Before concluding his statement, O'Brien argued the legitimacy of the breathalyzer test. The machine, the Drager alcotest 9510, is supposed to be tested at least once a year. The machine in question was not tested within the year.