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Woman gets probation in fatal accident

Her attorney says the case has similarities to the controversial Jennifer Porter case in Tampa.

A woman charged with leaving the scene of a fatal pedestrian accident in Clearwater earlier this year has been sentenced to probation.

Candice Hannon, 24, pleaded no contest earlier this month to a charge of leaving the scene of a fatal accident. In a deal with prosecutors, she received a sentence of 10 years' probation, said her attorney, Pat Doherty.

Clearwater police said Hannon was behind the wheel of a 2002 Toyota Tacoma that struck and killed Pat McMahon, 47, on Jan. 31 as the New Jersey man walked across the 2900 block of Gulf-to-Bay Boulevard.

McMahon had traveled to Clearwater a week earlier to get away from some personal problems and the cold New Jersey winter, his family said. His blood-alcohol level when he was killed was 0.43 percent, more than five times the level at which the law considers a person to be impaired.

The truck did not stop, but a witness followed it to Largo. Police later found the Toyota abandoned on Whitney Road; inside was Hannon's driver's license, according to police.

In February, police got a search warrant for cell phone records from Sprint in an effort to find Hannon. Among the records obtained were seven text messages and one voice mail message.

Hannon, who lives in St. Petersburg, called and told a friend shortly after the accident that she had struck someone, according to the search warrant. Then she went to the friend's home and talked about fabricating a story in which someone else had taken or borrowed the truck.

The next day the friend received a text message from the cell phone Hannon was using. It indicated that Hannon planned to leave town.

A warrant later was issued for her arrest. Hannon turned herself in at the Pinellas County Jail in July.

Hannon had her license suspended for six months in 2000 after being cited with driving under the influence, records show. She has had seven other traffic citations in the past five years for speeding, running a stop sign and driving without insurance or registration.

Despite his client's driving history, Doherty said Hannon likely wouldn't have been charged with a crime had she stopped at the scene of the crash. He said she just panicked and drove away.

The prosecutor who handled the case could not be reached for comment.

Doherty said the case has similarities to the controversial and highly public Jennifer Porter case in Tampa. Porter received house arrest and probation for leaving the scene of an accident in which two children were killed.

"I think it is similar to this. The impetus for the crime is fear, unlike almost any other crime where at the bottom you have a sin, like greed or lust or something," Doherty said. "Here you have fear. You have this young woman who has never done anything wrong, gets in a horrible situation, most of which is not of her making. And sometimes you just lose control. You're just not as fearless as you ought to be. And I'm sure she wishes differently."