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The motorcycle ridden by Martin Burbey, 55, of Jefferson, Ore., was heavily damaged in the fatal collision. The red Jeep Cherokee behind the motorcycle was following Burbey when he was hit head-on by a GMC Yukon driven by Nathaniel Hubbs, 31, of Jackson. PHOTO COURTESY HARVEY SIEGEL / CNM

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Nathaniel Hubbs

A Jackson man charged with homicide by vehicle is accused of being under the influence of prescription drugs when he crashed into a motorcyclist Saturday.

Nathaniel Anthony Hubbs, 31, had several bottles antidepressants, muscle relaxants and painkillers in his 2004 GMC Yukon at the time of the crash that killed 55-year-old Martin Lewis Burbey, of Jefferson, Ore., according to charging documents. Two of the bottles, which were prescribed the day before, were nearly empty, with almost 40 pills missing from them, court records state.

Teton County Attorney Steve Weichman argued at an initial hearing Tuesday for a high bond because of the particularly gripping effect he believes prescription drug addiction has on its victims. Hubbs, who is being held at the Teton County Jail, appeared in court.

“This is not alcohol we’re dealing with here,” Weichman said. “We know this is the most challenging frontier for addiction specialists.”

Hubbs’ attorney, Dick Mulligan, asked 9th District Court Judge Timothy C. Day to release Hubbs on his own recognizance or to set a reasonably low bond. He said Hubbs was employed at Knobe’s Radio Shack and has two children and a fiance in Jackson.

He isn’t a flight risk, Mulligan said. He asked Day to consider setting release terms that would protect the public, such as requiring Hubbs to appear for regular chemical tests and not allowing him to drive. He added that Hubbs was seeking counseling from Cretal Counseling for his addiction. Hubbs’ parents were in the courtroom and agreed to take custody of him, Mulligan said.

Hubbs, dressed in gray and white jail stripes, turned with red, puffy eyes to his father in the back of the courtroom and mouthed the words “I love you” and “thank you.”

Day said he suspected, given Hubbs’ history in the Teton County court system, that counselors would recommend inpatient treatment, which doesn’t typically work as an interim release order between hearings and a trial.

Hubbs has several charges involving possession of a controlled substance and use of a controlled substance dating back to 1999 in the 9th Circuit Court. He also has two arrests in Teton County for driving under the influence, one of them for driving under the influence of a controlled substance, circuit court clerk David Baker said. Baker didn’t know how those cases were resolved.

Day set bond at $100,000, one of the highest seen in his courtroom. He also said he would not release Hubbs, even if he posted bail, until he received a substance abuse evaluation and Day had an opportunity to review it and make release orders. Hubbs faces up to 20 years in the Wyoming State Penitentiary if convicted.

Weichman filed an eight-page affidavit, including pictures and graphs, detailing the circumstances of the crash. The following account comes from that document.

Hubbs was northbound on Highway 89 near the intersection with Maple Way about 4 p.m. Saturday. He drifted through the southbound left-turn lane and into the inside southbound lane, where he struck Burbey on his motorcycle head-on at about 32 mph.

Burbey’s motorcycle was forced backward into a red Jeep Cherokee behind it. Witnesses said Burbey flew 10 to 15 feet into the air, backwards, over the Jeep. He was wearing a helmet, according to Wyoming Highway Patrol reports.

His body was thrown several feet and landed near the grass on the far west side of the road. He was pronounced dead at the scene.

Neither the driver nor passenger in the Jeep behind Burbey were hurt in the crash.

Hubbs’ airbags went off and he was not hurt. Investigators recovered data from the airbag control module that showed Hubbs’ speed slowly increasing in the 5 seconds before impact and did not show any application of the brakes.

Authorities found methocarbamol, a muscle relaxant; diazepam, which is better known by its brand-name Valium; hydrocodone, a painkiller; and Cymbalta, an antidepressant, in Hubbs’ car. Hydrocodone, diazepam and methocarbamol can cause drowsiness, lightheadedness and dizziness, according to WebMD.com. Cymbalta can cause nausea and dizziness.

Trooper Jared Reilly interviewed Hubbs after the crash.

“He had a sleepy appearance,” Reilly wrote in an affidavit. “He had a difficult time keeping his eyes open. His head would begin to drop, which was quickly followed by a startle reflex.”

That happened throughout the interview, Reilly reported.

Hubbs agreed to take field sobriety tests and failed them.

Hubbs told Reilly he was texting and playing with his stereo before the crash. He submitted to a chemical test and went with troopers to St. John’s Medical Center for a blood draw. Results of blood tests typically take several weeks to come back.

Hubbs’ boss at Knobe’s Radio Shack told police Hubbs was seven minutes late to work Saturday morning and he could tell “Hubbs was under the influence of some kind of drug ... his eyes were red and his face seemed droopy – like the skin was just hanging off the bones on his face,” according to court records. The boss sent Hubbs home and told him not to come back “until he was off the pain pills.”

Hubbs had a prescription filled the day before the accident for 30, 10-milligram diazepam pills. The prescription was written by a Dr. Thomas, according to court records, with instructions to take one pill three times a day.

The day after the prescription was filled, the day of the crash, there were seven pills remaining in the bottle. There was also a bottle of oxycodone filled the day before the crash with 40, 325-milligram tablets. There were 24 pills remaining when officers searched Hubbs’ vehicle with a warrant Monday, according to court records.

There is no Dr. Thomas listed in the Jackson Hole phonebook.

There were also seven unopened bottles with seven Cymbalta pills each, two more Cymbalta bottles with pills missing, one bottle of methocarbamol with 15.5 pills and one bottle of oxycodone with one pill remaining in Hubbs’ vehicle, according to records.

Nothing in court records, other than the reference to Dr. Thomas, indicates where Hubbs may have gotten the pills.

The crash Saturday is the only fatal one on record in Teton County in which prescription drugs are suspected.

“Until Saturday, Teton County was the safest place in the state, statistically, for drug and alcohol related deaths,” Weichman said.

The last vehicular homicide case Weichman prosecuted was in 2002, he said.

This is only the third alleged fatal DUI crash in Teton County in five years, according to Stephanie Lucero, a grants and data specialist at the Wyoming Department of Transportation. A motorcycle passenger from Wisconsin died in Grand Teton National Park in July 2007. Lucero said the driver was charged with driving under the influence with a fatality in the federal court system. Another motorcyclist and his passenger, both from Arkansas, died in a DUI crash on Highway 26 in June 2006, Lucero said.

Hubbs’ last name and age were incorrect in Tuesday’s Jackson Hole Daily because of incorrect information from Highway Patrol.