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GRAHAM BRINK and CHRISTOPHER GOFFARDJennifer Porter could face probation or years in prison if arrested.
TAMPA - Jennifer Porter is expected to be arrested any day in the hit-and-run crash that killed two children.
The questions now: What charges will she face? Will she go to prison? If so, for how long?
The answers, legal experts say, are open to debate.
Porter could face a broad range of punishment, from probation to 15 years in prison, if convicted of leaving the scene of an accident involving death, lawyers say.
And while the charge of leaving the scene seems likely, it's unclear whether charges of vehicular homicide apply.
"This is a complicated case," said Tampa attorney Joe Episcopo, who has handled high-profile traffic cases. "And it's a gray area of the law."
The crash occurred just after sundown on March 31 as four children crossed N 22nd Street on their way home from the neighborhood community center.
Bryant Wilkins, 13, and his 3-year-old brother, Durontae Caldwell, were killed instantly. Their siblings, Aquina Wilkins, 8, and her brother, LaJuan Davis, 2, were injured.
Porter's lawyer said she was on her way home from the nearby elementary school where she worked as a teacher when she was "involved" in the wreck. Authorities think her Toyota Echo was northbound on N 22nd Street.
Witnesses said a northbound car dragged the 3-year-old about 150 feet, and the driver fled.
At a press conference five days later, Porter stood before reporters and apologized, but gave no details about the accident. Legal experts theorize that since her lawyers allowed her to acknowledge involvement in the crash, they will try to negotiate a plea instead of risking a trial.
But first there's the question of what those charges might be.
Crash investigators first said that more than one vehicle might have been involved. They later said it could be just one: Porter's Toyota Echo.
The discrepancy could give Porter's attorneys ammunition if prosecutors try to hold her legally responsible for hitting all four children. They could argue that another car was involved, as investigators initially theorized.
It's possible Porter might not face vehicular homicide charges at all.
Not every fatal crash results in a charge of vehicular homicide. For that charge to stick, prosecutors have to prove that a defendant hit and killed someone and that the death stemmed from the defendant's reckless driving.
"The case law is very clear that excessive speed, standing alone with no other evidence of recklessness, most of the time is not enough" to warrant a vehicular homicide charge, said Tampa attorney Rick Terrana. "If the speed limit is 30, and she's going 40, that may not be enough."
The Lee County case of Ella Mae Hamilton, convicted of vehicular homicide for hitting a 5-year-old playing in the road, has some parallels to the Porter case.
Hamilton was going 50 mph to 60 mph in a 30 mph zone. Her lawyers argued that speed was not enough to convict her.
In a 1983 decision, the appeals court said that other factors, combined with speeding, did warrant her conviction.
Among those factors: The crash occurred on a clear, dry day with good visibility; Hamilton was driving through a residential area congested with children; she was familiar with the road; she did not slow down when striking the child and may have sped up after leaving the scene.
Some of those factors might also apply in Porter's case. Porter, 28, was probably familiar with the area because she worked at a nearby school. The area also was well-known as one where children gathered.
Other factors don't apply. In the Tampa case, it was just after dark, witnesses said some streetlights were out and the children were not crossing at the crosswalk.
"Given what I know," Episcopo said, "I still think vehicular homicide will be a tough sell in this case."
The most likely charge for Porter, legal experts say, is leaving the scene of an accident with death or injury. Though there were four victims, Porter would face just one count, as she only left the scene of one crash, experts say.
A sentence related to that charge could be complicated, too.
Prosecutors use a score sheet to determine the recommended range of punishment for a defendant's sentence. Score sheets tally up points for various factors, such as a defendant's previous convictions or the use of a gun in the crime.
While those calculations are often subject to interpretation, a Times computation puts Porter in the sentencing range of about two to 15 years in prison.
In a case involving death or injury, "victim injury points" can be added onto a defendant's score sheet. Those points can ratchet up the minimum sentence under state guidelines.
In some cases, victim injury points for causing a death can mean the difference between probation and many years in prison.
The wide range comes in trying to determine whether there is enough of a "causal" relationship between the act of leaving the scene and the deaths or injuries - essentially, did the death or injury result from the driver leaving the scene?
In the case of Shawn Geary, convicted in Hillsborough County of leaving the scene of an accident involving injury, the 2nd District Court of Appeal threw out the victim injury points, concluding, "The fact that the defendant left the scene of the accident did not cause the injury. Had the defendant remained at the scene, the victim would still have been injured."
In a Broward County case, a man was struck by a car and dragged about 500 feet. The driver, Andrew May, swerved to dislodge the body, which was thrown into the road and hit by another car. He was convicted of leaving the scene of an accident with death and sentenced to 7 1/2 years.
May appealed the application of the death points. Testimony from a medical examiner, however, established that the impact and the dragging contributed to the victim's death. The appeals court ruled that the combination provided a sufficient link between the death and the crime to merit the death points.
In the Porter case, the medical examiner determined that Durontae died instantly when the northbound car hit him. Injuries from being dragged occurred after he was dead, the medical examiner said.
Bryant also died instantly. But the medical examiner did not say whether Bryant was hit by the same car, or whether either boy was hit by more than one car.
Officials have given no indication of when an arrest might come.
- Graham Brink can be reached at 813 226-3365 or brink@sptimes.com