DRIVER CHARGED UNDER NEW DRUG LAW

Man Allegedly Had Crack Cocaine In His System

WAUKESHA - A 44-year-old man alleged to have driven a car in the town of
Brookfield after smoking crack cocaine is being prosecuted under a new law
targeting drugged drivers.

The so-called "Baby Luke Law" was passed in December, almost two years
after a fatal crash in Milwaukee killed the unborn baby of Waukesha
resident Michelle Logemann. The baby, who was to be named Luke, died six
minutes after an emergency Cesarean section was performed to try and save
his life.

Paul D. Wilson of Kenosha was convicted of homicide by negligent operation
of a motor vehicle in the case and sentenced to the maximum two years in
prison. State law did not then allow for an operating while intoxicated
conviction even though traces of cocaine were found in Wilson's blood.

The Baby Luke Law requires prosecutors prove only that illegal drugs were
in a driver's system to obtain a conviction.

A Waukesha County prosecutor cited the Baby Luke Law when she issued a
criminal charge Tuesday against Michael A. Van Patter of Wauwatosa,
Waukesha County Circuit Court records show.

An operating while intoxicated charge had been brought against Van Patter
on March 1 even though a criminal complaint alleged his blood-alcohol
content was 0.02 percent, court records show.

The charge would have been Van Patter's fifth OWI, court records show. He
was convicted of drunken driving four times between July 1990 and May 2002.

The arresting officer allegedly found a crack cocaine pipe in Van Patter's
vehicle at the time of the arrest. Van Patter allegedly told the officer he
had smoked crack cocaine at about 4 p.m. that day, two hours before his
arrest along Barker Road near Davidson Road in the town of Brookfield,
court records show.

Assistant District Attorney Jennifer Dorow issued the new charge against
Van Patter, citing a state crime lab report that alleges Van Patter had
crack cocaine in his system.

Dorow was not immediately available for comment this morning. It is not
known if Van Patter's case is the first application of the Baby Luke Law in
the state.