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Family Decries Decision To Drop DUI-Manslaughter Case

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By TOM BRENNAN | The Tampa Tribune

Published: March 17, 2009

Updated: 03/18/2009 11:21 am

TAMPA - The family of a Gibsonton motorcyclist killed in a November 2007 wreck is outraged that prosecutors have dropped a DUI-manslaughter case against a Deltona man.

Jeffrey Freson, 42, was charged after his 2005 Ford F150 pickup and a Suzuki 600 driven by Joshua Motsinger, 24, collided on State Road 60 near Providence Road about 9:30 p.m. on Nov. 27, 2007.

Prosecutors said Tuesday that there wasn't enough evidence to prove Freson was drunk or that he caused the crash that killed Motsinger.

"It is an outrage," said Jennifer Nichol, mother of Motsinger's 8-month old son. "This has wrecked my entire life. I have a son that will never know his father."

Motsinger's mother said "the whole thing doesn't make sense."

"When you take someone's life when you have been drinking, you should pay the price," Lynn Strait said today.

Freson admitted having one Calypso Cooler with dinner at a Chili's restaurant. He was trying to cross S.R. 60 from the restaurant parking lot when the collision occurred.

The Florida Highway Patrol trooper investigating the crash said he smelled alcohol on Freson's breath. Freson agreed to a blood test, but it took investigators three hours to have it done.

The test showed Freson's blood-alcohol level to be 0.078, but medical testimony estimated it likely was between 0.046 and 0.064 at the time of the accident. State law presumes impairment at 0.08 percent.

Motsinger's family said that shouldn't have mattered and a jury should decide whether Freson was responsible.

Witnesses also told investigators Motsinger was racing between stoplights as he travelled west on S.R. 60, weaving in and out of traffic.

"Jeffrey Freson spent the last year of his life petrified at the thought of spending the next 15 years in prison," said Daniel Fernandez, Freson's attorney. "He was a man wrongfully accused and wrongfully charged."

Motsinger's family said witness statements contradicted what they told investigators at the scene.

"If he was convicted he could have appealed," Nichol said. "Where can the family appeal?"

Reporter Tom Brennan can be reached at (813) 259-7698.

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