Steve Sloane, the Centre County assistant district attorney prosecuting the case, said he is waiting on the accident reconstruction report to check Applegate's speed and the distance between the car she was driving and Drauch to determine how much time she had to react. The report, which will determine whether Sloane refiles the charge, should be complete "any day now," he added.
A charge of aggravated assault while driving under the influence requires not only drunken driving, but another negligent act. Sloane said police reported that Applegate was speeding and is required to wear glasses while driving but wasn't -- which could be enough to validate the felony charge.
William Arbuckle, Applegate's attorney, said refiling is unnecessary.
"We think the charges that are pending are sufficiently serious," he said, adding that witnesses to the accident said no driver would have had the opportunity to stop in time. According to court documents, Drauch also seemed intoxicated and witnesses said he stumbled into the street.
Sloane said the district attorney's office is only interested in doing "the right thing."
"I don't want to refile it just because [Prestia] dismissed it," Sloane said. "As soon as [the report] comes in, we'll make our decision."
Sloane said he is certain Prestia used the wrong standard in evaluating whether or not to hold the aggravated assault charge for court.
"The judge was saying it might not be a big deal, that it's nothing that he doesn't see kids do every day downtown ... not wear their glasses and smoke and talk on their phone when they drive," he said.
However, Sloane said Applegate made the choice to get behind the wheel and take on the responsibilities that come with it.
"People saw [Drauch] staggering from 100 to 180 yards away," Sloane said. "She's responsible to be paying attention while she is driving."
The accident reconstruction report will provide the information necessary to determine the speed at which Applegate was travelling by cross-referencing any injury to Drauch's legs and the damage to the car, Sloane said.
Drauch was crossing the street in front of the Meridian apartment complex when he was critically injured by the collision and taken to Geisinger Medical Center in Danville, police said. Drauch was recently transferred to the HealthSouth Harmarville Rehabilitation Hospital in Pittsburgh, according to a hospital records clerk. The extent of his injuries has not been released.
Police said Applegate fled the scene and was found about 15 minutes later in the Your Building Center parking lot, 1120 E. College Ave., about 5,000 feet from the crash scene.
Drauch's medical records were released by his family to the district attorney's office last week, but Sloane said he hasn't reviewed it yet.
Arbuckle said those medical records will also tell if police reports that stated Drauch had been drinking the night of the accident are true.
Sloane said if Drauch was drinking, it wouldn't hurt the case, but it remains a factor.
"He shares in the responsibility for this accident, but the law says in order to hold [Applegate] responsible, she has to be a direct and substantial cause of the accident," he said. "Unless his negligence is so bad that it absolves her responsibility ... that it almost makes her a non-factor, then it would hurt the case."
Arbuckle said Applegate and her family are doing "OK," but not a day passes that they don't think about and pray for Drauch.
"I'm sure I speak for both [Applegate and Drauch], they'd love to have that evening back," he said. "Unfortunately, we don't have do-overs."
