Loading ...Plea Deal in 2001 Vehicular Manslaughter Case Pleases Defendant and Victims’ Family
Yesterday, in a courtroom about 55 miles east of Bradenton, prosecutors and defense attorneys worked together – with the support of the defendant and the victims’ family – to resolve a 2001 vehicular manslaughter case. The cooperation between the sides was remarkable.
Back in 2001, Haitian immigrant truck driver Jean Claude Meus’ tractor-trailer overturned on a van, killing its driver Nona Moore and her eight-year-old daughter. Meus was charged in Hardee County with two counts of vehicular manslaughter and was convicted in 2003. The jury deliberated for less than an hour. Meus was ultimately sentenced to 15 years in prison.
The Moore family, amazingly, felt that the outcome was unjust and that Nona Moore would not have wanted Meus in prison for an accident. They worked to find Meus a pro bono defense attorney to help with post-conviction appeals. Meus had no criminal history and no trace of drugs or alcohol in his system at the time of the accident.
After several years of appeals, Meus was granted a new trial and ultimately agreed to a plea deal with the state. He pleaded no contest in exchange for one day of supervised court probation, withholding of adjudication of guilt and credit for his three-and-a-half years served in jail. The result is that Meus is now free of prison and probation and doesn’t even have a conviction on his record.
Prosecutors at the original trial argued that Meus fell asleep at the wheel and ran a stop sign. His truck then flipped onto Moore’s van. Meus, however, consistently maintained that a third vehicle cut him off, forcing him to swerve into the van.
Last year, Meus’ conviction was overturned and a new trial was granted on the grounds of new evidence. The court ruled that a key witness, who did not testify in the original trial, could have changed the outcome of the verdict.
That witness, present at the accident scene, said that Meus did not appear to be tired and appeared to have no trouble walking, talking or understanding what was going on. The witness was never interviewed by law enforcement and did not believe Meus had been asleep at the wheel.
Instead of putting the parties, witnesses and the Moore family through another trial, Meus and his defense attorney negotiated the plea agreement. The Moore family was present in court and seemed to wholeheartedly agree with the resolution. Nona Moore’s sister, in fact, sat beside Meus’ wife in the courtroom on Friday.
After the guilty plea and sentencing, the judge praised the attorneys on both sides of the case. He said, “The conduct before me was a model of how lawyers are supposed to perform.”