OKLAHOMA CITY (CBS) — A prominent Oklahoma doctor turned himself in after prosecutors charged him with second-degree murder.
“We are just trying to deal with everything right now and hopefully, at the end of the day, everything will be fine,” said Scott Adams, the attorney for Dr. Bryan Perry.
On Wednesday (Nov. 21), Dr. Bryan Perry turned himself in to authorities at the Oklahoma County Jail.
“It just goes to show he has taken responsibility for what has happened now. He has no independent recollection of hitting anyone or doing anything like that,” said Adams.
Just before 1:30 a.m. on Oct. 12, emergency crews were called to I-35, between 15th and 33rd, following a deadly crash. Authorities say Bryan Frank Perry was driving a 2013 Mercedes northbound when he hit a motorcycle, killing 31-year-old Nicholas Rappa.
Officials with the Oklahoma Highway Patrol say the cardiologist did not stop after he hit Rappa. Instead, he kept driving until he ran off the side of the road and hit a light pole.
When police arrived at the disabled car, investigators say a ‘strong odor of an alcoholic beverage’ was detected.
Perry now faces a charge of second-degree murder.
“Typically, what you see in something like this is manslaughter in the first-degree charges. For whatever reason, they have ramped it up to murder two,” said Adams.
This isn’t Perry’s first run-in with the law.
In 2012, Perry was arrested for reckless driving after he allegedly hit an Oklahoma Highway Patrol trooper. Court documents state that Perry was “extremely unsteady on his feet, had a very strong odor of alcohol on his breath and person and had extremely slurred speech.”
“There are a lot of people out there that have prior arrests, and that’s the Litmus test that we use,” Adams said. “He has been convicted of nothing.”
Prosecutors didn’t return our phone calls for comment but they are asking that Perry be held without bond. Adams says he is in the process of filing a motion to have Perry out on bond.
“Right now, he is taking a sabbatical so he can deal with all this and I would hope that here in the near future he would be back practicing medicine,” said Adams.
Bryan Frank Perry has been charged with murder in the 2nd degree and is being held without bond in connection with a fatal crash on October 12.
Perry crashed into the back of Nicholas Rappa on I-35.
Rappa was on a motorcycle.
Perry was arrested at the scene and booked into jail but bonded out that same day.
The OHP traffic homicide unit investigated and interviewed 33 witnesses.
Perry’s blood alcohol content was .23 – almost 3 times the legal limit.
He has now been charged with murder in the 2nd degree, aggravated DUI, leaving the scene of a fatal collision and obstructing an officer.
