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DUI suspect cleared of manslaughter

The woman's attorneys question the investigators' work; she is convicted only of two counts of DUI.

By ABBIE VANSICKLE
Published January 14, 2006

INVERNESS - The moment she heard the jury's verdict, Kelly Ann McDonald threw her arms around her attorney Bill Grant.

"Oh, thank you!" she cried. "Oh, I can't thank you enough!"

McDonald, 35, was charged in a 2002 fatal vehicle accident that killed Tim Parker, 43, and injured his passenger, Chris Snetzko, then 21.

But the jury found her guilty only of two counts of DUI, lesser charges than the ones she faced: DUI-manslaughter and DUI with serious bodily injury.

It took the jury a little more than an hour and a half to reach the verdict.

The trial, which began with jury selection Monday before Circuit Judge Ric Howard and ended with closing arguments Friday, focused on the Citrus County Sheriff's Office investigation of the collision.

One of McDonald's attorneys, Bo Samargya, called the verdict "expected."

The defense team conceded from the start of the trial that McDonald was driving under the influence of alcohol the morning of the collision. The defense maintained she did not cause the accident, though. The jury agreed.

"Kelly McDonald is also a victim here," Grant said. The state's case against her came apart because of a lack of evidence, he said.

"No photos. No measurements. No case," he said, as he walked out of the courtroom.

The weeklong trial raised questions about what happened when McDonald's vehicle collided with Parker's about 6 a.m. on Dec. 7, 2002, on County Road 486 outside Crystal River.

Assistant State Attorney Bill Catto called investigators who testified that accident reconstruction showed McDonald's 1997 Ford Explorer crossed the center line and collided with Parker's GMC Sierra.

Experts for the defense maintained the accident could not have happened that way. Plus, they argued, there was no way to be certain what happened because the Sheriff's Office investigators accidentally destroyed the photographs from the scene, and sheriff's Sgt. Joseph Palminteri threw out his notes from the scene.

As Catto packed up his court files after hearing the verdict, he said only, "We respect juries' decisions."

Outside the courtroom, family and friends of Parker stood quietly together. His mother, Oveda Parker, hugged Catto and thanked him for his work on the case.

Her eyes were red from crying.

"Oh honey, it devastated me," she told a reporter. She now cares for her son's 9-year-old daughter, Shownee.

Barbara Roberts, a family friend, stood next to her.

"(McDonald's) going to go before the right judge one day," she said, adding that she meant a higher power.

McDonald is scheduled to be sentenced at 3 p.m. Thursday in Howard's courtroom. She will remain in the Citrus County jail until sentencing, Howard said.

She is currently awaiting trial on charges of acquiring or attempting to acquire a controlled substance by fraud and withholding information for the purpose of obtaining a prescription. A status conference for that case is also set for Thursday.

In an unusual aside, the judge took a few moments before the verdict was announced to tell the jury about the case. He explained that the case had been in the court system for several years. It had been set for trial seven times. Four groups of lawyers had handled the case, he said.

"It is through no fault of any of the attorneys," he said. It was just a very slow process, he said.

Abbie VanSickle can be reached at 860-7312 or vansickle@sptimes.com

[Last modified January 14, 2006, 01:38:14]