Lawyers say evidence in DUI manslaughter case was improperly handled

TAMPA, Fla. - Tampa police investigators say inside Omar Wilson's car was an empty bottle of liquor underneath a black hat. Evidence pictures released in the case show a yellow bottle cap just visible underneath the hat. 

They say moments earlier he had run a red light on North Nebraska Avenue and Bird Street and crashed into a van with several people inside. 

A 16-year-old boy was killed.  

Now, a year and a half after the fatal crash, Wilson watched during a virtual hearing Monday as his attorney asked a judge to throw out some of the most damning evidence against him, including some of the evidence discovered in his vehicle, they say may have been tampered with or contaminated at the scene. 

Hillsborough County public defender Ann Shane questioned Tampa Police Sgt. Doug Burkett, who was the first one to arrive at the crash scene. Shane asked him if he asked for permission to search Wilson's vehicle.

"I never had a conversation with Mr. Wilson so the answer to that would be 'no,'" said Sgt. Burkett.

Shane also asked Burkett about the liquor bottle.

Shane: You say you saw the bottle on the floorboard of the passenger side of the vehicle?

Burkett: That’s my recollection. 

Shane: You believe the doors to the car were open by this point. 

Burkett said when he walked up to Wilson's car, the door was unlocked and open. 

Prosecutors say when officers approached Wilson after the crash, he was rocking back and forth and his speech was slurred.  

They say his blood-alcohol level was over the legal limit and now Wilson wants the test results thrown out, too. 

Wilson refused to take a breathalyzer at the jail, which makes his blood test results more crucial for prosecutors. 

Hillsborough County Judge Michael Williams will reserve ruling on the matter until he hears from medical experts in December. 

Wilson faces several charges that include, DUI manslaughter and DUI.