NewsMontana and Regional News

Actions

Toxicology results from driver who hit a child near Whitefish released

Posted at 3:26 PM, Jan 31, 2020
and last updated 2020-01-31 17:32:59-05

Toxicology results from the driver who hit six-year-old Jordana Hubble as she was getting off a school bus in November near Whitefish have been released to MTN News.

Montana Highway Patrol Trooper Jon Raymond said the driver who hit Jordana is a medical marijuana patient. Raymond says toxicology results show the driver had marijuana metabolites in her body but not in her blood stream at the time of the crash. Zoloft, a prescription anti-depressant, was also found in her blood. However, he noted that the THC metabolites and anti-depressant are not believed to have caused impairment.

“In the toxicology results there was active THC metabolites which means there was no active THC in the blood stream. There was a prescription discovered in the blood which was just sertraline -- which is just the trade name for Zoloft -- a prescription anti-depressant,” he said.

“I don’t anticipate any impairment from those results, but we’re going to talk to some experts about whether or not Zoloft can create any impairment, but I don’t anticipate that to be the case,” he added.

Trooper Raymond told MTN News the police report has been presented to Flathead County Attorney Travis Ahner and expects charges to be filed once the case is fully reviewed.

“It could be some time, they’re going to have to watch in-car video, read a lot of witness statements, read a lot of reports, crash report -- look at the crash drawing and the total station data. And it could take quite a while to do that,” Trooper Raymond explained.

The identity of the driver will not be released until and unless charges are filed by the Flathead County Attorney's Office.

Jordana is recovering in a "coma emergence program" at a Houston hospital where family members said she is making progress but remains in critical condition.

NOVEMBER 19, 2019: Flathead girl still hospitalized after being hit by a vehicle
JANUARY 17, 2020: Flathead girl hit by car transferred to Texas hospital