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Attorney explains why BRPD officer who blew over the limit after wreck likely won't get charged

BATON ROUGE - A Baton Rouge Police officer and another driver may not face charges after a fiery crash in Zachary, despite both drivers being suspected of alcohol use. 

Officer Loren Gaskin is currently on administrative leave from the Baton Rouge Police Department after totaling his unit in that wreck.

Last week, WBRZ obtained a document showing that Gaskin was driving above the legal limit.

Two breath tests, taken two hours after the wreck at a medical testing facility, show results of .104 And .097.

However, no test was done by Zachary Police officers at the scene.

"It's all about due process," said former Baton Rouge Police officer Tommy Dewey. "They have to do their job."

Dewey now works as a defense attorney and is representing Gaskin. 

Dewey says it is standard procedure to do a drug and alcohol test on an officer who is involved in a wreck. The results of those tests though are to be used for administrative purposes only. 

"As an employee of the police department, you are compelled to do things against your own self-interest, so you basically have no Fifth Amendment rights. You are obligated as a condition of your employment to give forth be truthful with any investigation relative to administrative matters," Dewey said. "Therefore, it doesn't carry over into a criminal matter because it is compelled."

Because no criminal charges can be brought based on those results, any punishment Gaskin receives will have to be administrative. Once the internal affairs investigation is complete, it will be up to Chief TJ Morse to decide if he will keep his job.

According to the crash report, the other driver in the wreck was suspected of alcohol use, however, no test was done on him either.

"The proper procedure for whatever investigating agency would be to get a blood draw if they refuse a breath test and then that blood draw should be sent to the State Police Crime Lab."

Neither Gaskin nor the other driver have been cited.

Zachary Police told us the day after the wreck they were working on getting subpoenas to test blood samples taken at the hospital. As of Thursday, that blood has not been tested.

Chief Lawrence did not provide an update Monday.

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