BOTCHED DRUG TEST MEANS REDUCED CHARGES AGAINST TRUCKER IN CRASH

MARSHALL, Mo. (AP) -- Charges against a truck driver involved in a
multi-fatality crash were reduced Friday because a hospital's report
that he had been under the influence of drugs was wrong, a prosecutor
said.

John Kendrix, 44, of Moultrie, Ga., was initially charged with five
counts of first-degree involuntary manslaughter. His eastbound
tractor-trailer crossed the median of Interstate 70 on Sunday and hit
a westbound pickup truck, killing all five occupants.

Those charges were based on a lab technician's report from Fitzgibbon
Hospital in Marshall that Kendrix had traces of amphetamines,
marijuana and barbiturates in his system.

But the Missouri State Highway Patrol said Thursday it had been
notified sometime this week that the technician's report was
incorrect. In addition, no drugs were detected in tests of Kendrix's
blood and urine by the state crime lab, the patrol said. Those tests
were completed Thursday morning.

Saline County prosecutor Don Stouffer amended the charges Friday to
five counts of second-degree involuntary manslaughter.

The first-degree charge, a Class C felony punishable by a maximum
seven years on each count, involves driving under the influence of
drugs. Second-degree involuntary manslaughter, a Class D felony
carrying a maximum five years per count, involves negligence.

Kendrix remains jailed in Marshall on $350,000 bond. He has asked to
be represented by the Saline County public defender's office, which
has not decided whether to take the case.

Kathleen Brown, the county's public defender, was surprised by the
Patrol's announcement.

"Well, that's a first," she said. "If the tests were wrong, I'm glad
the Highway Patrol came forward and said that, since the results were
already out on the news."

Investigators are still seeking the cause of the crash, which killed
the pickup's driver, Scott Schrier, 45, of Lee's Summit; Debra
Sprouse, 45, and her two children, Ashley Sprouse, 14, and Zachary
Corn, 8, all of Lee's Summit; and Ashley Curl, 15, of Overland Park,
Kan.

The two girls were champion horseback riders and were returning home
from a horse show in Louisville, Ky., when they were killed. A horse
in a trailer being pulled by the pickup was also killed.

Nearly 500 people turned out Thursday in Lee's Summit for services for
Debra Sprouse and her children. Schrier, who was Ashley Sprouse's
trainer, was buried Thursday in the St. Louis suburb of Chesterfield,
his hometown.

Services for Ashley Curl, who like her friend Ashley Sprouse was a
champion rider, were scheduled Friday in Overland Park.

Lt. Tim Hull of the Highway Patrol said the botched tests on Kendrix
were the first he could remember in his 18 years with the patrol.

Ron Ott, chief executive officer for Fitzgibbon Hospital, said
Thursday night that he would not comment on the lab tests or their
results, citing patient confidentiality.

Even though the Highway Patrol always conducts its own drug tests for
the state's evidence, drug results from local hospitals are needed
immediately so that authorities can hold potential defendants for more
than 20 hours, Hull said.

Samples that were supplied to the Highway Patrol and the hospital were
taken from Hendrix at the same time, Hull said.