The man involved in Albemarle County’s first fatal traffic crash of 2016 appeared in Albemarle County Circuit Court on January 30 where a judge denied two motions that would amend his house arrest and suppress evidence collected from his vehicle after the wreck.
On March 15, 2016, Frayser White IV crossed double solid yellow lines on Ivy Road and collided head-on with 81-year-old Carolyn Wayne, who died at the scene, according to the prosecution.
Though White was initially charged with driving under the influence for the second time in five years, the prosecution dropped that after finding no evidence he’d consumed alcohol. He is charged with two felony counts for possession of heroin and cocaine, and two misdemeanors for reckless driving and possession of alprazolam, the generic form of Xanax.
“This is a man who has a history of DUI and a history of reckless driving,” said Assistant Commonwealth’s Attorney Richard Farley when White moved to amend his bond to allow him to be dropped off at work and other appointments. He is currently on house arrest and only allowed to leave for medical appointments if he is driven by a family member. “We’re not prepared to give him the opportunity to hurt someone else,” said Farley.
The defense attorneys—John Zwerling and Rhonda Quagliana—said officers did not have probable cause to obtain a search warrant to inspect White’s vehicle after the crash.
“We have the defendant on the wrong side of the road. We have the defendant hitting someone head-on. We have the defendant killing somebody,” Farley argued, adding that those details should be enough to grant a search warrant. The judge ruled in his favor.
Several motions were continued until a March 13 court date, pending a test to see whether amphetamines were present in White’s blood at the time of the crash. In court, Farley said the defendant has a prescription for them, and if the test comes back positive, he’ll argue that the defendant took “a cocktail of prescription drugs” before driving, and charge him with manslaughter.
After the crash, Zwerling said White was taken to the hospital, where tests indicated that amphetamines were not present in his blood.