jay_dub
04-14-2013, 11:34 AM
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Brann: Tests after fatal accident show differing alcohol levels in officer
By MARGARET BAKER — mbbaker@sunherald.com
JACKSON COUNTY -- The mother of a girl who died after being hit by a truck driven by an off-duty Pascagoula police officer is outraged no action has been taken in her daughter's case.
Kristen Brann said Jackson County deputies sat in her living room the evening of the Feb. 22 accident and told her Pascagoula police Officer Daniel Snyder blew into a portable breath test 45 minutes after Kaytlynn was run down and the results indicated he was legally impaired. But since then, she said, deputies have told her Snyder's blood, drawn some four hours after the accident, indicated he was not over the state's .08 percent legal limit to drive.
"I'm mad and aggravated about the way this whole thing has been handled," Brann said Friday. "I want justice for my daughter. My daughter wasn't doing anything wrong other than walking on a road where there were no sidewalks. There is no way in the world why he should not have seen her.
"My husband is devastated to the point that he cries every day. We're both devastated. We live our life in 15-minute intervals because that's all we can handle right now.
"We aren't supposed to bury our kids. We're just aren't."
Snyder, 44, had been on personal leave to attend a family member's funeral the day his 2010 Chevrolet pickup truck struck 16-year-old Kaytlynn Brann on Pointe aux Chenes Road just before 7 p.m. She and a friend were walking near Kaytlynn's Gulf Park Estates home. She died the following day at Ocean Springs Hospital.
Sheriff Mike Byrd said Snyder knew he hit something, but didn't know what it was and "turned around and came back and it was the girl."
Snyder had remained on personal leave with pay until last week when he returned, Pascagoula Police Chief Kenny Johnson said, though he is only performing administrative duties around the office.
Snyder's attorney, Keith Miller, said Friday his law office has conducted its own extensive investigation and "it has not shown any indication that he (Snyder) was impaired or under the influence at the time the accident occurred nor that he was negligent in any manner."
In addition, Miller and Cherie Wade, assistant district attorney in Jackson County, told the Sun Herald on Friday state law prohibits the results of portable breath tests from being used as evidence in court.
When asked about Snyder's results Friday, Wade said, "The law in the state of Mississippi prohibits our office from commenting on matters that will be presented to a grand jury."
A grand jury will decide if Snyder will face any criminal charges. Byrd has for months refused to respond to requests for comment from the Sun Herald and did so again Friday.
Brann said she also was warned Friday by a deputy that if she was quoted by the Sun Herald, she would be opening herself up to being called to testify in the case.
"I don't care," she said. "My daughter did nothing wrong. She was coming home the night after her birthday. She was 16. She was a good girl. She didn't drink. She didn't do drugs. She did good in school. She got picked to be in the Junior National Honor Society. She simply went for a walk and said, 'Mom, I'll be gone for a few minutes.'
"It still doesn't seem real to me. I still look for her to come through the door at 10 after 4. I want to believe that Jackson County is looking out for my daughter's best interest, but on the other hand things are just not adding up."
"This man is still going to be able to watch his kids grow up. But he took my daughter away from me. I'll never walk her down the aisle. I'll never get to see her graduate.
"I had a hard time having her. She was what I called 'my miracle baby.' I just want people to know my daughter was a good girl and she didn't deserve this. My daughter was special from Day 1 … (and) now my family is shattered."
Brann said her daughter had plans to attend college and pursue a career as a photojournalist.
"She loved photography and she loved to write," Brann said.
Kaytlynn's father, Keith Brann, said he doesn't care if Snyder faces criminal charges because he's already lost his daughter. What he does care about, he said, is a police officer is allowed to continue his career.
"If he was drinking and driving, he was wrong and he should not be a cop," Keith Brann said. "I know he didn't purposely hit my daughter. It could have happened to me. I could have hit some kid. But he is a police officer.
"I'm in the Navy. If I drink and drive and I'm busted, I'm kicked out the Navy because that's against our policy. I really don't care what he gets charged with. The only thing I care about is that he is going to get to remain being a police officer and that's not right."
Snyder has been with the Pascagoula Police Department for two years.
http://www.sunherald.com/2013/04/12/4590793/mother-i-want-justice-for-my-daughter.html
The newspaper has removed and disabled comments on this story.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Brann: Tests after fatal accident show differing alcohol levels in officer
By MARGARET BAKER — mbbaker@sunherald.com
JACKSON COUNTY -- The mother of a girl who died after being hit by a truck driven by an off-duty Pascagoula police officer is outraged no action has been taken in her daughter's case.
Kristen Brann said Jackson County deputies sat in her living room the evening of the Feb. 22 accident and told her Pascagoula police Officer Daniel Snyder blew into a portable breath test 45 minutes after Kaytlynn was run down and the results indicated he was legally impaired. But since then, she said, deputies have told her Snyder's blood, drawn some four hours after the accident, indicated he was not over the state's .08 percent legal limit to drive.
"I'm mad and aggravated about the way this whole thing has been handled," Brann said Friday. "I want justice for my daughter. My daughter wasn't doing anything wrong other than walking on a road where there were no sidewalks. There is no way in the world why he should not have seen her.
"My husband is devastated to the point that he cries every day. We're both devastated. We live our life in 15-minute intervals because that's all we can handle right now.
"We aren't supposed to bury our kids. We're just aren't."
Snyder, 44, had been on personal leave to attend a family member's funeral the day his 2010 Chevrolet pickup truck struck 16-year-old Kaytlynn Brann on Pointe aux Chenes Road just before 7 p.m. She and a friend were walking near Kaytlynn's Gulf Park Estates home. She died the following day at Ocean Springs Hospital.
Sheriff Mike Byrd said Snyder knew he hit something, but didn't know what it was and "turned around and came back and it was the girl."
Snyder had remained on personal leave with pay until last week when he returned, Pascagoula Police Chief Kenny Johnson said, though he is only performing administrative duties around the office.
Snyder's attorney, Keith Miller, said Friday his law office has conducted its own extensive investigation and "it has not shown any indication that he (Snyder) was impaired or under the influence at the time the accident occurred nor that he was negligent in any manner."
In addition, Miller and Cherie Wade, assistant district attorney in Jackson County, told the Sun Herald on Friday state law prohibits the results of portable breath tests from being used as evidence in court.
When asked about Snyder's results Friday, Wade said, "The law in the state of Mississippi prohibits our office from commenting on matters that will be presented to a grand jury."
A grand jury will decide if Snyder will face any criminal charges. Byrd has for months refused to respond to requests for comment from the Sun Herald and did so again Friday.
Brann said she also was warned Friday by a deputy that if she was quoted by the Sun Herald, she would be opening herself up to being called to testify in the case.
"I don't care," she said. "My daughter did nothing wrong. She was coming home the night after her birthday. She was 16. She was a good girl. She didn't drink. She didn't do drugs. She did good in school. She got picked to be in the Junior National Honor Society. She simply went for a walk and said, 'Mom, I'll be gone for a few minutes.'
"It still doesn't seem real to me. I still look for her to come through the door at 10 after 4. I want to believe that Jackson County is looking out for my daughter's best interest, but on the other hand things are just not adding up."
"This man is still going to be able to watch his kids grow up. But he took my daughter away from me. I'll never walk her down the aisle. I'll never get to see her graduate.
"I had a hard time having her. She was what I called 'my miracle baby.' I just want people to know my daughter was a good girl and she didn't deserve this. My daughter was special from Day 1 … (and) now my family is shattered."
Brann said her daughter had plans to attend college and pursue a career as a photojournalist.
"She loved photography and she loved to write," Brann said.
Kaytlynn's father, Keith Brann, said he doesn't care if Snyder faces criminal charges because he's already lost his daughter. What he does care about, he said, is a police officer is allowed to continue his career.
"If he was drinking and driving, he was wrong and he should not be a cop," Keith Brann said. "I know he didn't purposely hit my daughter. It could have happened to me. I could have hit some kid. But he is a police officer.
"I'm in the Navy. If I drink and drive and I'm busted, I'm kicked out the Navy because that's against our policy. I really don't care what he gets charged with. The only thing I care about is that he is going to get to remain being a police officer and that's not right."
Snyder has been with the Pascagoula Police Department for two years.
http://www.sunherald.com/2013/04/12/4590793/mother-i-want-justice-for-my-daughter.html