Lawyer for man accused of providing heroin in fatal overdose granted up to $1,500 to hire expert
The defense attorney for the man accused of providing the heroin that killed a former Ann Arbor Gabriel Richard hockey coach will receive up to $1,500 to hire an expert witness to decipher hospital records, according to court records.
Brendan Lathrop
Courtesy of the Washtenaw County Sheriff's Office
Brendan Lathrop, 23, is charged with one count of delivery of a controlled substance causing death and one count of delivery of a controlled substance less than 50 grams. Daniel Geherin, Lathrop’s attorney, successfully argued for the release of Nicholas Belanger’s medical records last month.
Washtenaw County Trial Court Judge Donald Shelton granted Geherin up to $1,500 to hire an expert to decipher the medical records on Aug. 14, according to court records.
Lathrop will return to court on Tuesday for a pretrial hearing. He’s currently lodged in the Washtenaw County Jail. If convicted, he faces a maximum of life in prison for the delivery of a controlled substance causing death charge.
Belanger was found dead in his car on Jan. 22 outside of Lathrop’s Ann Arbor apartment. He was 26 years old.
The former Gabriel Richard hockey coach was a 2004 graduate of Saline High School. He helped Gabriel Richard win its first ever Catholic League Championship.
In late July, Shelton ruled that Belanger’s medical records from his Brighton Hospital stay from Oct. 23, 2011 to Nov. 3, 2011 should be made available to Geherin. The motion had been filed in an attempt to show Belanger had a history of drug abuse that may have contributed to his death, according to court records.
Lathrop was arraigned on the charges on April 13 and originally was given a 10 percent of $5,000 bond. While free, he tested positive for drugs and had his bond revoked.
According to investigators, Lathrop left the area following Belanger’s death, which partly caused a three-month delay between the morning Belanger was found and when Lathrop eventually was arraigned.
Kyle Feldscher covers cops and courts for AnnArbor.com. He can be reached at kylefeldscher@annarbor.com or you can follow him on Twitter.
Comments
Brandon
Thu, Aug 30, 2012 : 9:51 p.m.
FYI...Belanger died in his car which was parked at the defendant's apartment. It has also been established that he had "visited" that night. Furthermore, the victim's hospital stay was probably a result of his "friendship" with the defendant in this case. You should look no further than a post that the defendant left on the Nie funeral home website for Mr. Belanger. The defendant will need much more than $1500 to get out of this one. This is pure hearsay but I have also heard rumblings that the defendant in this case has been implicated in another overdose death of a local young adult which took place in a hotel nearby earlier the same year.
Joe_Citizen
Mon, Aug 27, 2012 : 1:11 a.m.
I don't concur with the law here, yes he is guilty of delivering narc's, but he did not make the victim use it or stick it in his arms. If not him someone else would have delivered it. This is like saying that the black market goods must meet some kind of standard. The victim knew his his luck was going to run out someday if he kept using, and this poor guy just happen to be the sap who may have done it. Truly I believe he should be no more guilty than a delivery charge. He [if guilty] was probably just doing the victim a favor, and keep his own addiction going. He should go to the Dawn Farm Treatment Program, and then if he doesn't accept the lifestyle then put him in jail. He is no more guilty of murder then any of us.
Arieswoman
Sun, Aug 26, 2012 : 8:04 p.m.
Our taxpayers dollars at work!
cinnabar7071
Mon, Aug 27, 2012 : 1:39 p.m.
Johnnya I'm a right winger who has no problem with him getting money for his expert. I'm also for personal accountability, and the accountability should lay solely on the drug user, with the defendant charged only with delivery. But at laugh at people getting upset about $1500, I was a juror on a SEC trial where the prosecution witness was paid $750k. $1500, please, that is nothing.
Chris
Mon, Aug 27, 2012 : 12:48 a.m.
As they should be. Read the Sixth Amendment: In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury of the State and district wherein the crime shall have been committed, which district shall have been previously ascertained by law, and to be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation; to be confronted with the witnesses against him; to have compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in his favor, and to have the Assistance of Counsel for his defence.
trespass
Sun, Aug 26, 2012 : 10:37 p.m.
It is interesting that Mr. Fink who is a candidate for judge said in response to a question about what he would do to make sure that people got a fair shake in his court regardless of their means, he replied that the courts will always favor those with more money.
johnnya2
Sun, Aug 26, 2012 : 9:14 p.m.
As they should be. Of course the right wingers only want the justice system for those that can afford it.
ffej440
Sun, Aug 26, 2012 : 1:40 p.m.
What change would it make ? Under the law he is accused of causing death by selling the drugs. Prior use makes no difference. Waste of OUR money.
trespass
Sun, Aug 26, 2012 : 4:14 p.m.
The cause of death is very important because it is an element of the crime. Do you want him to just let the Medical Examiner testify as to what he thinks the cause of death is and not put on his own witness?
Basic Bob
Sun, Aug 26, 2012 : 11:06 a.m.
The hospital records are from Brighton Hospital. In case anyone is unclear, their specialty is drug and alcohol treatment. 10 days is typical for heroin detox, just long enough for the physical withdrawal symptoms to stop.
Joe_Citizen
Mon, Aug 27, 2012 : 1:21 a.m.
3-5 days for typical withdraw from heroin, alcohol, meth, crack, and so on.
Dutch Thomas
Sun, Aug 26, 2012 : 7:36 a.m.
hey how about charging the pharmacists who sell oxycontin?
ffej440
Sun, Aug 26, 2012 : 1:43 p.m.
No comparison between legal sale and street sale. "Pain Clinics" now that is one to go after.
Ricardo Queso
Sun, Aug 26, 2012 : 3:55 a.m.
Hope he has $1500 in assets to fork up after his conviction.
trespass
Sun, Aug 26, 2012 : 12:20 a.m.
The Medical Examiner totallly screwed up the autopsy on the man who died in the summer of 2010 after being tasered multiple times. They failed to note that his lungs weighed twice what they should of which means that he had about a quart of excess fluid in his lungs. That is a sign of heart failure not a sudden cardiac arrest. His medical records also showed that he had taser darts in his hat and along with the description of how he reacted to the taser indicated that he had a seizure. The Medical Examiner is all too willing to go along with the answer that the local law enforcement community wants.
Brandon
Thu, Aug 30, 2012 : 9:58 p.m.
You sound like a former assistant medical examiner with a vendetta. The victim in this case was found dead in his car and delivered to the medical examiner's office. I'm pretty sure the law enforcement community had very little to do with it seeing that they probably just called an ambulance and stood aside after determining he wasn't breathing.
trespass
Sun, Aug 26, 2012 : 12:02 a.m.
The hospital stay was for 10 days, which would be unusual for a medical/surgical hospital admission, so it seems likely that it was a psychiatric/rehab admission. There will be a lot of abbreviations as well as drug names, and diagnosis. Once the expert summarizes that they will have to be able to relate that to the findings in the autopsy and testify in court. $1500 is typically about 5 hours of an experts time, so that does not seem to be a lot for an expert. So far the Medical Examiner has not specified why he concluded that the heroin was the proximate cause of death. Most drug overdoses are mixed drug overdoses so saying which drug or alcohol actually caused the death can be difficult. In particular, I want to know if Mr. Balanger had pulmonary edema, which is invariably present in the case of a narcotic overdose. Other psychiatric drugs have different mechanisms of action so they may kill without pulmonary edema. There is a tendency among Medical Examiners to give testimony that supports the prosecution since they are all part of the same law enforcement community. In this type of case it is extremely important for the defendent ot have competent expert testimony.
Macabre Sunset
Sat, Aug 25, 2012 : 10:23 p.m.
Fascinating defense. Lathrop is a professional who can responsibly deliver these controlled substances to people as long as they provide adequate medical records. Shelton is definitely a defense attorney's dream.
trespass
Mon, Aug 27, 2012 : 1:36 a.m.
@Macabre- Since I have worked as an assistant medical examiner, I think I can give you an informed opinion that this medical examiner's report is not sufficient.
Macabre Sunset
Sun, Aug 26, 2012 : 11:14 p.m.
I understand the charge he faces. The coroner's report is sufficient.
trespass
Sun, Aug 26, 2012 : 10:32 p.m.
@Macabre- I don't think you understand the charge he faces. This is not about whether or not he sold drugs, which is not disputed but rather the prosecutor's office is trying to use a new law that give a much longer sentence to someone who sells or gives drugs to an individual who dies of an overdose. The key defense that Mr. Lathrop is asserting is that the proximate cause of Mr. Ballanger's death was not the heroin. No one is asserting that Mr. Lathrop knew anything about Mr. Ballanger's medical history or what other drugs he was taking. If the death resulted from a mixture of heroin, prescription drugs and alcohol or if the overdose were intentional because of depression then the heroin would not be the proximate cause of death. The prosecution must show, beyond a reasonable doubt, that he did not die from any other cause than the heroin.
Macabre Sunset
Sun, Aug 26, 2012 : 3:43 p.m.
It sounds like you've identified the fish this attorney hopes to catch on his expedition, funded by the taxpayers. It's not relevant to show that Ballanger is more susceptible to death by overdose. Lathrop is not a doctor and could not be expected to understand that if Ballanger had a certain medical issue, he should not be sold illegal drugs. Shelton should throw out the defense that Lathrop was making an effort to understand the medical history of those he sold drugs to. Not unless this attorney has lined up witnesses who can back this up (and now we're heading into something that would serve more as a plot on Picket Fences than anything we'd ever hear in real life).
trespass
Sun, Aug 26, 2012 : 12:12 a.m.
Judge Shelton was very correct in giving the defense access to the medical records. Mr. Ballanger was allegedly a drug addict and his hospital stay may well have been related to his addiction or psychiatric illness. He may have been on drugs to treat those disorders. Those drugs may have interacted with the heroin. It is also known that anti-depressants cause an increase in suicide risk for the weeks after they are started so it is even possible that the overdose could have been intentional. Certainly the judge made the right decision.
xmo
Sat, Aug 25, 2012 : 9:05 p.m.
What Language are they written in? "hire an expert to decipher the medical records"
CincoDeMayo
Mon, Sep 3, 2012 : 3:09 a.m.
I need this expert just to figure out hospital bills I get from UofM...
trespass
Sun, Aug 26, 2012 : 12:15 a.m.
They also need to look at the autopsy. The law requires that the heroin must be the proximate cause of death not just a contributing cause. Thus, if there were other possible causes of death that would be a legitimate defense.
Bear
Sat, Aug 25, 2012 : 9:21 p.m.
Are you well versed in medical terms and procedures? When dealing with a possible life sentence, you've got one chance to get it right. So your point is?