FHP cites driver in fatality related to cell phone use

By MONIQUE FIELDS and DAVID KARP

© St. Petersburg Times,
published August 1, 2001

A Clearwater motorist who was trying to answer his cellular phone when he struck and killed a man on the Howard Frankland Bridge has been cited with careless driving by the Florida Highway Patrol.

Hillsborough State Attorney Mark Ober said Tuesday that his office was reviewing the April crash and considering whether to file criminal charges. A committee of the office's top prosecutors, which routinely reviews similar cases, will look at the crash.

"We're reviewing a report and determining whether there's anything criminal," said Sharon Vollrath, an assistant state attorney. The review may be finished in about a month, she said.

The Florida Highway Patrol, while working with the State Attorney's Office, didn't find any criminal wrongdoing in the case in June.

"It's unfortunate his vehicle left his lane, but there is no criminal intent and no criminal charges," said Sgt. Jacqueline Freeman, a recruiting director for the Florida Highway Patrol.

On April 24, Paul Martin was driving across the Howard Frankland Bridge at 10:30 p.m. and looking forward to seeing his girlfriend in Tampa. As he made the trip, his cell phone rang. He leaned to his right to grab the phone off the floorboard. At the same time, the Ford Explorer he was driving veered into the right emergency lane and struck Richard McKeefery, who was changing the left rear tire on his car.

McKeefery, 23, of Temple Terrace died at the scene.

Martin was issued a careless driving citation, which carries no criminal charge. But he is required to attend an Aug. 29 court hearing in Hillsborough County.

Martin declined to comment through attorney Robert Eckard.

"Of course, we're happy the state has exercised sound prosecutorial discretion and not pursued any criminal action," Eckard said. "There's nothing there. (If) you hit somebody, it's an accident."

Reached at her Kansas City, Mo., home Tuesday, McKeefery's mother, Laura Wilson, criticized the highway patrol's investigation and media coverage. She said she has arranged a meeting with Vollrath in Tampa on Thursday. She declined to comment further.

About two months before the crash on the Howard Frankland, Martin was charged with drunken driving when he crashed a Ford truck on the Courtney Campbell Parkway. A Tampa police officer wrote that Martin swayed as he stood and could not follow simple instructions.

Prosecutors, however, dropped the drunken driving charge in June when Martin pleaded no contest to reckless driving. A Hillsborough County judge sentenced him to a year's probation, 50 hours of community service and ordered him to complete DUI school.

Since 1995, Martin has been cited numerous times for traffic violations, including a citation for reckless driving in Pinellas County in 1995, careless or improper driving in Pinellas in 1996 and driving with a suspended license in Hillsborough last year, records show.

- Times researcher Caryn Baird contributed to this report.

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