Pennsylvania

Drunk Driver in Fatal Accident Wants New Trial

A central Pennsylvania man convicted of vehicular homicide and driving under the influence in a crash that killed one of his friends and critically injured two others is seeking a new trial.
 
Thirty-one-year-old Matthew Shirk was sentenced to nine to 18 years in state prison in the crash that killed 24-year-old Kelly Rider four days before Christmas in 2011.
 
The Centre Daily Times reports that defense attorney Brian Manchester argued Tuesday in Centre County Court that references to an emergency room doctor's opinion should not have been allowed during the May trial.
 
District Attorney Stacy Parks Miller argued that case law cited by the defense in the appeal supported the prosecution's position, and a defense witness also built on his interpretations of some of the same data.

Copyright The Associated Press
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