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Posted on Thu, Nov. 05, 2009 12:55 PM
Judge refuses to reduce bond for teen charged in gardener’s death
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Allegations against a 19-year-old woman charged with running down and killing an Overland Park woman involve drugs and not alcohol, a defense lawyer said today.
He asked a Johnson County judge to cut her $100,000 bond in half and allow her to complete a drug treatment program she has started in another state.
Judge James Franklin Davis refused to reduce the bond, saying Jill Conaghan’s history of drug abuse left him “genuinely concerned about public safety.”
Prosecutors charged her Wednesday with involuntary manslaughter DUI, leaving the scene of an accident, failure to stay in a traffic lane and driving on a sidewalk area. She was also charged with being a minor in possession of alcohol on three separate occasions after the fatal July 18 hit-and-run.
Sandra Carocari, 70, was killed as she gardened in her front yard on the 9800 block of 99th Terrace. The vehicle left the road, struck her and knocked her across the yard.
The driver left but eventually returned with her parents and allegedly told police she had struck the woman.
At the bond hearing today, defense lawyer Thomas Erker noted that his client returned from her treatment center, surrendered to police Tuesday evening and presented no flight risk.
She and her parents, he said, “have shown a propensity to work within the system.”
He asked for the lower bond and release to complete her drug treatment program that ends in January.
Then she would surrender and the court could set a new bond, Erker said.
Jill Kenney, assistant prosecutor, countered, “Any attempt to get her into treatment now is too little, too late.”
She noted that the teen was caught possessing alcohol while with a convicted marijuana dealer less than two weeks after the fatal accident. She also was allegedly caught in possession two more times before the end of September, the prosecutor said.
Two days after the third incident, she said, the parents sent her off for treatment.
Another defense lawyer in the case, Kevin Regan, called it tragic and horrible and said his client and her family “extend the most heartfelt condolence and sympathy to Mr. Carocari for his loss.”
They will review the facts and legal options and take appropriate action to resolve the matter, he said.
The judge scheduled another hearing for Dec. 10.
| Joe Lambe, jlambe@kcstar.com
Posted on Thu, Nov. 05, 2009 12:55 PM
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