DUI charges filed against a Pennsylvania State Trooper were held for Schuylkill County Court following a preliminary hearing Tuesday afternoon in Port Carbon.
Matthew E. Hoke, 34, is charged with DUI/BAC (0.10-.16%), DUI/Unsafe driving, and Disregarding a traffic lane. Magisterial District Judge Dave Plachko determined Tuesday that the Schuylkill County District Attorney’s Office presented enough evidence to hold the charges over for County Court.
Shortly after midnight on Sept. 15, 2024, Hoke was driving a Harley Davidson Street Glide motorcycle at James St. in Blythe Township when the bike left the roadway and came to final rest on the shoulder.
Hoke suffered severe injuries in the crash, including head trauma that prompted emergency officials responding to the scene to request a MedEvac helicopter transport to Lehigh Valley Hospital-Cedar Crest.
During Tuesday’s preliminary hearing, two EMS personnel that responded to the scene – TImothy Bower and Ronald Gubala – testified as to what they observed that night last year.
Bower said he asked Hoke if he’d been drinking and Hoke reportedly said he had. Gubala said he got a similar answer. Only Gubala testified that he could smell alcohol emanating from Hoke before he was eventually taken aboard the helicopter.
“I would call it a faint smell,” he testified.
Both EMS personnel did testify, however, that Hoke had suffered serious head trauma and that’s a point defense attorney James Conville highlighted during his cross-examinations of each. Conville got Gubala to admit that a person suffering from head trauma could present “confused speech” as he said Hoke had while treating him.
Bower said Hoke was speaking in “short sentences that weren’t making any sense.” And Gubala admitted that “confused speech” is consistent with someone who has suffered a head injury.
State Police Cpl. Jordan Hoffman also testified Tuesday. He was the supervising officer on duty the night of Hoke’s motorcycle crash and said that he took command of the investigation from two other Troopers who had initially responded.
Hoffman said by the time he’d arrived at the scene, Hoke was en route to the hospital and didn’t speak with him. Several hours later, Hoffman said he went to the hospital only to learn that Hoke was not stabilized and on a ventilator.
Hoffman then said he’d learned that Lehigh Valley Health Network Laboratories had drawn two vials of blood from Hoke after his arrival. On Sept. 24, Hoffman obtained a search warrant to gain access to the findings from the blood testing. Those results were forwarded to Schuylkill County’s DUI Administrator at the DA’s Office and on Oct. 10, Hoffman learned the results of the blood testing showed Hoke’s Blood Alcohol Content to be 0.134%.
During an interview with Hoke at his residence on Oct.14, Hoffman testified that the defendant didn’t remember much about the crash other than he’d been traveling on James St. when a vehicle came into his lane and forced him off the road. Hoffman said after the point at which he recalled headlights in his lane and swerving to avoid them, Hoke “respectfully” stopped answering questions.
Conville argued to Plachko that the DA’s Office didn’t present enough of a case but the judge pointed to the results of the blood test and held the charges for County Court.
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