Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, January 8, 1992 TAG: 9201080298
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B-3 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: By LAURENCE HAMMACK STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
BIKER GUILTY OF MANSLAUGHTER
After a night of drinking at a Vinton bar in June, Stacey Lee Hann climbed on his motorcycle for the drive home.His friend, Mildred E. Smith, decided to ride with him "to make sure he made it all right," Janet Dodson testified Tuesday.
They made it only as far as Walnut Avenue and Eighth Street, where Hann's motorcycle veered off the street and hit a telephone pole. Smith suffered massive internal injuries and died several hours later during surgery at Roanoke Memorial Hospital.
Hann - who maintained that he had been drinking but was not too drunk to drive - was convicted Tuesday of involuntary manslaughter.
After a day of testimony in Roanoke County Circuit Court, Judge Kenneth Trabue cited "overwhelming" evidence that Hann, 25, had been intoxicated and that he acted with criminal negligence.
With no witnesses to the accident, Chief Assistant Commonwealth's Attorney Randy Leach instead relied on testimony from people who saw Hann drink as many as 15 beers, take several shots of bourbon and smoke marijuana the night of June 28.
Hann, however, testified that the six to eight beers he drank did not impair his ability to drive. The accident happened because Smith, 24, leaned to the right while he was trying to make a left turn, he said.
"The accident was a mistake between the two of us," he said. "The fact that I had been drinking had no effect."
Defense Attorney Jonathan Apgar argued that his client had not exceeded the 35-mph speed limit, and the sole fact that he was drinking did not rise to the level of a manslaughter conviction. Because Hann had refused a blood alcohol test, there was no medical evidence of how intoxicated he was.
However, Trabue cited testimony from witnesses who saw the motorcycle at one point toppled over at an intersection and later speeding just minutes before the accident happened. Witnesses testified that on the night of the accident, Hann began drinking at a gathering of motorcycle riders at a home where both he and Smith lived.
Raymond Davis, who said he was a former member of the Pagans motorcycle gang, testified that Hann had at least 12 beers at the house, and that he continued to drink and became belligerent when they went to the bar in Vinton. "He was talking about fighting this and fighting that," Davis testified. "He was pretty well lit."
Hann is scheduled to be sentenced next month, and will face a maximum punishment of 10 years in prison.
***CORRECTION***
Published correction ran on January 9, 1991.
Clarification
Raymond Davis, who testified Tuesday in the involuntary manslaughter trial of Stacey Hann in Roanoke County Circuit Court, was once affiliated with The Pagans motorcycle group but said he was never a member.
Memo: CORRECTION