The family and friends of a 20-year-old woman packed a Dubuque courtroom Wednesday for a hearing for the man accused of, while intoxicated, crashing into her vehicle, killing her and her unborn child. 70 year old John Hoffman is charged in Iowa District Court of Dubuque County with homicide by vehicle, nonconsensual termination of a human pregnancy and serious injury by vehicle in relation to the crash on November 9th that killed Hannah Ruggeberg of Bellevue, who was 28 weeks pregnant, and seriously injured her 3-year-old passenger. Hoffman has pleaded not guilty. On Wednesday, he appeared for his hearing via closed-circuit TV from the Dubuque County Jail. Hoffman’s blood alcohol content measured 0.135% two hours after the crash — well above the legal driving limit of 0.08%. Assistant County Attorney Michael Whalen argued that Hoffman’s bond should remain at $250,000 cash. Hoffman’s attorney, Alyssa Carlson, argued that his bond far exceeds the bail that’s reasonably necessary to keep Hoffman from fleeing.
