Description: New London, Connecticut criminal defense lawyer represented the Defendant charged with misconduct with a motor vehicle and negligent homicide with a motor vehicle or commercial motor vehicle.

[O]n December 1, 2016, the defendant . . . was driving a vehicle, a tractor trailer truck, on [Interstate 95] south in . . . New London county . . . when he hit a vehicle which had been driven by Ashley Ferguson . . . [and] Ferguson was outside her vehicle with the back door open on the driver's side. [The defendant] hit . . . Ferguson's vehicle and hit . . . Ferguson and killed her .... [T]he defendant's vehicle, prior to impact with . . . Ferguson's vehicle, veered to the right over the fog line, hitting the rear portion of the driver's side quarter panel, scraping the side of . . . Ferguson's vehicle.... Ferguson's vehicle was off the travel portion of the highway, but just barely.

''[The defendant] actually applied the brakes either as he was hitting . . . Ferguson or maybe shortly before, but really almost instantaneously.''

On October 11, 2017, the defendant was arrested and subsequently charged by way of a long form information, dated May 22, 2023, with misconduct with a motor vehicle in violation of § 53a-57 (count one). The defendant also was charged with the lesser included offense of negligent homicide with a motor vehicle or commercial motor vehicle in violation of General Statutes (Rev. to 2015) § 14-222a (b)[3] (count two).

A bench trial took place on May 30 and 31, 2023. Several witnesses testified and several exhibits were admitted into evidence. On May 30, 2023, after the close of the state's case-in-chief, the defendant made an oral motion for a judgment of acquittal on the ground that ''[t]he state ha[d] presented insufficient evidence to establish criminal negligence with respect to [count one]'' because the state did not present evidence showing more than a slight or moderate deviation from the standard of care that would have been exercised by a reasonable truck driver in the defendant's situation. The state opposed the motion, arguing that ''the evidence is that the defendant left the lane of traffic. Other people- another person that saw it, moved over. The defendant chose not to, for whatever reason . . . [and he] went into a portion of the lane that is specifically not a travel lane, struck and killed [Ferguson]. I think based on the totality of the evidence presented at this point in time, I think we've met the state's burden to move forward with the rest of the trial, and the state would object to the defendant's motion.'' The court, K. Murphy, J., deferred its ruling on the motion for a judgment of acquittal until after closing arguments and subsequently denied the motion on the record on May 31, 2023.[4]

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Legal issue Was there sufficient evidence to prove that the defendant acted with criminal negligence in the operation of a motor vehicle causing the death of another person?
Key Phrases Misconduct with a motor vehicle. Criminal negligence. Standard of care. Substantial and unjustifiable risk. Reasonable doubt.

Outcome: Affirmed

Plaintiff's Experts:

Defendant's Experts:

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