PANAMA CITY — A trial date has been set for a Southport woman accused of being high on meth when her vehicle collided with a tree, killing her passenger, according to court documents.
Jessica Finch, 27, is charged with DUI manslaughter for a June 2013 single-car collision with a tree on County 2301 near Commander Lane. Finch was critically injured in the 4 p.m. collision and her passenger, then 27-year-old Justin Collins, suffered fatal injuries. He died in a local hospital about three hours later.
A jury trial has been set for Finch in November.
Florida Highway Patrol reports indicated Finch and Collins were traveling 34 mph at the time, and crash investigators suspected drugs played a part in the wreck. FHP investigators got a warrant for Finch’s arrest after blood test results showed she had methamphetamine and amphetamine in her system at the time of the crash, according to Florida Department of Law Enforcement tests.
However, Finch’s attorney has requested up to $1,500 for an expert toxicologist. The defense also has asked for $1,500 to reconstruct the crash.
Finch also was charged as a habitual offender for driving on a suspended license and for driving on a suspended license with crash involving seriously bodily injury at the time of her arrest.
Finch was arrested in January after deputies searched her Southport home and allegedly found enough methamphetamine to charge her with a distribution charge.
Additional charges were filed against Finch in May when officers were told she was in possession of meth. During their search, Bay County Jail guards allegedly found two baggies containing crystal methamphetamine hidden in a hollowed out deodorant bottle and sealed in a latex glove in one of Finch’s body cavities, according to court records.