Monroe County man’s appeal of OWI conviction is turned down

A driver from Monroe County has not convinced a Wisconsin appeals court to lift his conviction for drunk-driving from 2017. 

A state appeals judge rules that Gary Schumacher’s trial attorney was not deficient in his questioning of a state crime lab worker. 

Schumacher challenged differing blood-alcohol evidence readings introduced at his trial, made by a lab chemist who extrapolated how drunk the driver might have been at the time of the crash.

The Ontario man had left the accident scene, and says he wasn’t tested until after he got home and did more drinking. 

His blood alcohol a few hours after the accident was .17, but Schumacher said he had consumed anywhere from three to seven beers and some whiskey after returning home.

Schumacher was charged with 3rd-time OWI and hit-and-run, and was sentenced to jail time and restitution.