Source: San Jose Mercury News (CA) Contact: http://www.sjmercury.com/ Pubdate: Thu, 26 Feb 1998 Author: Sandra Gonzales - Mercury News Staff Writer ADMISSION REVEALED IN OFFICER'S DEATH Suspect said he should not have been driving when patrolman was killed, investigators say After telling authorities he had not only consumed prescription drugs and two shots of Vodka but that he was so tired he thought he was on a different highway, Santa Cruz motorist Peter Wieland also admitted he should not have been driving when he killed a San Jose CHP officer with his careening car, according to court documents. Wieland's admission to authorities came shortly after the crash that claimed the life of Scott Greenly, 31, the first San Jose-area California Highway Patrol officer killed in the line of duty since 1975. On Wednesday, Santa Clara County prosecutors charged Wieland, 45, with second-degree murder in the death of Greenly, killed Jan. 7 on Highway 85 near Saratoga Avenue. If convicted of second-degree murder, Wieland could face a maximum penalty of 15 years to life in prison. Wieland is in custody at Santa Cruz County Jail for a probation violation unrelated to Greenly's death. He is expected to be arraigned on Friday on the new charge. During his interview with the CHP after the fatal crash, Wieland acknowledged that he had taken Vodka and prescription drugs and should not have been driving. Toxicology tests later showed that Wieland had a 0.02 percent blood alcohol level, well below the state's 0.08 percent legal limit. Those tests also showed that Wieland had 0.078 percent level of methamphetamine in his blood, as well as evidence of marijuana and such prescription drugs as lithium, authorities said. In addition to four prior arrests and convictions for driving under the influence, Wieland has an extensive history of substance abuse and mental health problems, investigative reports show. Wieland also had been arrested eight times for suspicion of public intoxication, and in 1996 for the cultivation of marijuana and possession of marijuana for sale, investigative reports indicate. Over the past several years, Wieland had completed at least one program aimed at rehabilitating drunken drivers and attended drug abuse counseling, they show. Attempts to reach Wieland's defense attorney Stephen La Berge on Wednesday were unsuccessful. On Tuesday, he said that he thought the second-degree murder charge against his client was unjustified. In the opinion of a forensic toxicologist, Wieland's behavior at the time of the crash was affected by his drug and alcohol use, and his driving pattern and statements would appear to indicate that he had fallen asleep at the wheel, those court papers show. The CHP report also contains several statements made by relatives and friends of Wieland, who had warned him against drinking and driving. In fact, the report says that his sisters told police that a few days after Christmas, Wieland's brother had called the police to report that he was drinking and driving. Others said that Wieland also had been warned by a psychiatrist against drinking while taking his medication, which was prescribed for manic depression. Katie Shallenberg -- a registered nurse at Stanford Hospital where Wieland's wife was hospitalized after being diagnosed with cancer - -recounted an incident to investigators in which she said Wieland's car cut her off on Christmas Day. According to the investigative report, Shallenberg told Wieland she knew things weren't going well with him, but that in his intoxicated condition he was going to kill someone if he continued to drive. Shallenberg alleges that Wieland told her he did not care if he killed anyone. On the day of the fatal injury, Greenly was attending to a routine traffic stop on Highway 85 south of the Saratoga Avenue exit when he was run over. Wieland drove off the road and down an embankment, striking Greenly as the officer was standing alongside a vehicle he had just pulled over.