Central court hearing scheduled in homicide by vehicle case

A hearing has been scheduled for next week in central magistrate’s court, Washington, for a man charged with involuntary manslaughter, homicide by vehicle and driving under the influence.
State police proceeded by summons, filing several counts last month against Joshua Ryan Scott, 29, of the Washington area, in connection with a March 7 crash that killed passenger James Scott.
James Scott’s obituary listed a surviving son by the name of Joshua Ryan Scott.
Police responded shortly after midnight on March 7 to a report of a single vehicle that had crashed into a tree along Banetown Road near Vista Valley Road, Amwell Township.
Emergency medical personnel were trying to revive the 63-year-old Scott while Joshua Ryan Scott was standing away from the vehicle, police said in an affidavit. The younger Scott said he had been drinking at a bar beforehand, and as the vehicle crossed a bridge, he lost control and struck the tree.
Police said the driver declined to submit to a preliminary breath test, but that they obtained a search warrant from the office of District Judge Ethan Ward, arriving at Washington Hospital at about 2:30 a.m. The younger Scott at that time volunteered he had also smoked marijuana.
Blood was drawn, and it was sent to a laboratory for analysis.
Police said the results of the blood test showed an alcohol level of .224 and the presence of the psychoactive substance in cannabis. Intoxication is presumed at a blood-alcohol level of .08 percent in cases of drunken driving.
Ward will also be presiding at the Dec. 21 preliminary hearing.
James Scott was pronounced dead March 7 at Washington Hospital by a doctor. According to his obituary, he was an automobile collision repair technician.