Jury in deliberation for hit-and-run accident
Five hours of deliberation and still no verdict in the case of a Lawrence man charged in a deadly hit-and-run accident. Enlarge video
Jurors will continue deliberating Monday morning in the trial of a Lawrence man accused of running over and killing a Kansas University student.
Joshua Walton, 25, Lawrence, is accused of hitting 22-year-old Ryan Kanost at 13th and Kentucky streets and then fleeing.
"You have before you some of the greatest evidence of being incapable of safely operating a vehicle. Go look at (the photos of) the dead body of Ryan Kanost wrapped backwards around a pole," Douglas County District Attorney Charles Branson said Friday in his closing argument.
Branson asked the jury to convict Walton on a charge of felony involuntary manslaughter. But Walton's attorney, Tom Bath, told jurors that prosecutors have presented enough evidence to prove Walton is guilty only of misdemeanor vehicular homicide.
"The evidence is not sufficient to show the speeding was so grossly negligent to justify involuntary manslaughter," Bath said.
The felony charge carries a sentence of 38 months to 172 months in prison. The maximum penalty on the misdemeanor conviction would be 12 months in jail and a $2,500 fine.
The trial began Monday, and jurors have spent the week listening to testimony about how Kanost was struck by a northbound car while crossing Kentucky Street at 13th Street. Kanost was with friends in the early-morning hours of Sept. 23, 2006, Branson said, when Walton hit him. Walton then drove off and met friends, telling them he believed he struck something but didn't know what it was.
When he reported to police the next day, Walton had told officers he thought he might have picked up someone else's drink at a bar by mistake "because he blacked out, went into a delusional rage" and then drove himself home although he didn't remember anything about the drive, a police officer testified.
Jurors deliberated about five hours Friday before going home for the weekend.
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cheeseburger (anonymous) says…
I certainly hope that Mr. Kanost's life is valued at more than 12 months in jail and a $2,500 fine for Walton. Had Kanost been injured instead of killed, a jury would likely have considered lost productivity, diminished quality of life, etc. in determining monetary awards. What price should be placed on a life cut 50-some years short due to the irresponsibility and carelessness of another?