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NILES — The case against a Buchanan man accused of driving drunk and killing a Berrien County Road Department worker in the summer of 2022 will be moving forward after his appeals to the Michigan Court of Appeals and Michigan Supreme Court have been denied.

The Court of Appeals denied Taylor Ryan Johnson’s appeal last fall and the Michigan Supreme Court turned down the appeal late last week. Johnson had initially been scheduled to go on trial late last August but the trial was put on hold pending the appeals.

A status conference of March 25 had been set in the case earlier last week before the Supreme Court decision came down. Berrien County Assistant Prosecutor Jerry Vigansky is handling the case for the people and said last Friday that the status conference will remain on March 25 and trial dates will be set at that point.

Johnson is accused of driving drunk and killing Berrien County Road Department worker William “Mack” Isom July 20, 2022 when Isom was trimming tree branches on Red Bud Trail in Oronoko Township.

Johnson, a Buchanan resident, is charged with operating a vehicle while intoxicated causing death. If found guilty, he faces a maximum penalty of 15 years in prison and a fine of up to $10.000.

Johnson told police that he had been driving the car that day and had not seen Isom. A witness told police that they saw Johnson’s vehicle traveling at a high rate of speed and hitting Isom. His blood alcohol level was found to be more than twice the legal limit.

        The Michigan Supreme Court stated last week that they were denying Johnson’s application for leave to appeal the Aug. 22, 2023 order of the Michigan Court of Appeals. The court said they were “not persuaded that the questions presented should be reviewed by this Court.”

        Johnson’s attorneys had been appealing the decision by Berrien County Trial Judge Jennifer Smith last June to not allow Johnson’s attorneys to argue that Isom had committed any negligence in the incident.

Defense attorney Jessica LaFond said August that they were appealing Judge Smith’s refusal of allowing any evidence of causation in terms of Isom’s actions that day to be presented to the jury at trial. LaFond said she believed it is an issue that the jury should be able to hear.

        LaFond’s colleague, Trevor Maveal, brought up the issue in two days of hearings before Judge Smith last May and June. Maveal presented a witness in May who said that Isom hadn’t properly set up cones and signs before he started removing a tree that was in the road. In June, Maveal withdrew that witness but said he still wanted to bring up the issue at trial.

        Judge Smith ruled in late June that Isom was not negligent in his actions that day and granted the prosecution’s motion to limit any such testimony. She said she would not allow the defense to bring up the issue unless additional facts come out during the trial.