Porter Superior Court Judge Bill Alexa exercised his prerogative on Wednesday to acquit a Columbus, Ohio, trucker charged with reckless homicide after he ran a red light in 2006 and slammed into a Liberty Township man’s vehicle at the intersection of Ind. 49 and C.R. 400N.

Sampson Boadi, 42, had been charged with one count of reckless homicide, a Class C felony punishable by a term of two to eight years; and two counts of criminal recklessness, the first a Class D felony punishable by a term of six months to three years, the second a Class A misdemeanor punishable by up to a year.

Alexa, however, acquitted him of those charges by granting the motion of Boadi’s attorney, Gary Germann, for a directed verdict, Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Andrew Bennett told the Chesterton Tribune today. Defense attorneys customarily make such a motion before juries begin their deliberations. Judges only rare grant them.

According to Valparaiso Police, at 10:57 a.m. on Oct. 8, 2006, Boadi was northbound on Ind. 49 when he ran a red light at the intersection of C.R. 400N and struck a second vehicle westbound on C.R. 400N and driven by Earl Eaton, 91, of Liberty Township. Eaton was transported to Porter Valparaiso Hospital Campus, where he died later of blood loss due to multiple injuries to the chest.

Boadi advised police at the time that he had been traveling 40 miles per hour as he approached the intersection but that when the light turned yellow he braked. His brakes locked, Boadi advised, causing his semi to jackknife. He then released the brakes and proceeded through the intersection at 30 mph, Boadi advised, the light turning red just before he entered it.

The VPD issued Boadi a citation for disregarding the red light, however, and in a probable cause affidavit Sgt. Steve Kobitz stated that he could find no skid marks from the truck’s initial breaking and no evidence corroborating Boadi’s claim that the semi jackknifed. Kobitz also stated that a witness to the crash advised him that the light had turned red several seconds before Boadi entered the intersection.

Based on his reconstruction of the crash, Kobitz concluded, Boadi “drove at an unreasonably high rate of speed for the circumstances, disregarded the traffic signal, entered the intersection on a red light, and struck the vehicle Mr. Eaton was driving, killing him. It is my opinion . . . that (Boadi) had more than enough time to bring his semi to a complete stop prior to entering the intersection.”

Bennett said this morning that he was surprised by Alexa’s directed verdict and that he “absolutely” stands by his case. Although, he conceded, “we took this to trial knowing it would be a difficult case—an an intoxicated driver who causes a death or one driving 30 or 40 or 50 mph over the posted speed limit would be much more “obvious” examples of “reckless homicide”—nevertheless “I’m pretty sure the evidence showed (Boadi) blew the light by nine seconds.”

Bennett did say that Eaton’s family has filed a civil lawsuit in the death.

Posted 6/27/2008