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TUPELO – When a second Pontotoc County Grand Jury did not indict a motorist for hitting and killing a girl who just stepped off a school bus, many residents complained vocally, saying the driver should be charged criminally.

District Attorney John Weddle said both the grand juries faced a tough task when hearing the case of North Pontotoc Elementary student Amiya Braxton.

“This was a difficult case,” Weddle said. “I know they struggled with it, based on the questions they asked.

“When you hear about it, the first thought is (the motorist) needs to pay. I completely understand that. That’s human nature. But when you start looking at the law and how it applies, it becomes a difficult issue.”

Criminally, the case boils down to intent – did the driver intend to pass the school bus or did she intentionally strike the child? Neither grand jury found intent, so neither indicted the driver on felony charges.

Braxton, 7, had just gotten off a North Pontotoc school bus on Oct. 4, 2016 and was standing in her own driveway when she was hit by an SUV driven by Karen Michelle Carpenter of Saltillo. Carpenter was following the northbound school bus on Highway 9 and failed to stop when the bus stopped. She swerved to the right, into a ditch, and struck the child.

There was no evidence Carpenter was texting or using her phone at the time. She willingly gave blood samples and the toxicology reports came back clean. Neither the accident reconstructionist nor the “black box” in the SUV were able to pinpoint how fast Carpenter was going just before the wreck.

The evidence was first presented to a grand jury in September 2017. When another witness came forward with new testimony, the case was reheard by a new grand jury last week.

“We felt both times the grand jury should look at both culpable negligence manslaughter and Nathan’s Law, which deals with injuries caused by passing a school bus,” Weddle said.

Under Nathan’s Law (Mississippi Code 63-3-615), if a child is injured by someone overtaking a school bus, the driver can be charged with aggravated assault. Both manslaughter and aggravated assault carry a sentence of up to 20 years in prison.

When considering the evidence, a grand jury has to determine if the action was intentional or willful before they can indict someone for a felony.

“The big issue with respect to the Amiya case, is that there is no proof she intended to go around the bus with the intent of passing the bus,” Weddle said. “Nathan’s Law is subject to interpretation. Is it a strict liability or do you have to prove intent?”

There is also the question of charging someone with aggravated assault in a death case. By definition, aggravated assault is the willful causing of serious bodily injury. In most cases, if the victim dies, the charge is upgraded to murder or manslaughter.

When considering culpable negligence manslaughter, the grand jury had to decide whether the actions were careless or reckless. In a legal sense, reckless means it was a willful act, that there was some level of intention.

“Manslaughter is a reckless act that shows indifference to human life,” Weddle said. “The grand jury had to decide if there was a level of willfulness and this was criminal negligence or if this was civil negligence.”

Every case is different, and the evidence doesn’t always fall neatly into the legal definition of a particular criminal charge.

“We presented the facts and the laws, and let the grand jury make up their own mind,” Weddle said. “And in both cases, the grand juries chose not to indict on either of the charges.”

Unless some new evidence is brought forward, Weddle considers the case closed.

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Originally posted by tru-marvell
But attempting to pass a school bus...by leaving the roadway in and of itself is unlawful. You add vehicular homicide, it should not be that complicated

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Originally posted by Trocity
Thank God the verdict was what it was. Was not looking forward to the chaos that would ensue if Chauvin had have gotten off.

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Originally posted by Bashar Teg
"god" Is usually part of the problem. thank the jury for their common sense

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Originally posted by SquallX
Calling me a trumper, is that your best?

X said it best, you white liberals are the worse enemies for Blacks. All you do is gaslighting, pretending to give a **** when really you just love to hear yourselves talk about inequality when really you don’t really care.

So yes, shut up!

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Originally posted by Robtard
"Thank god" is just a figure of speech.

Now thank god there wasn't a single Broly, Surt or Silent Master in that "common sense" jury. Cos it would have been a hung jury and the country would have to go through this again.

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Originally posted by Robtard
Anyhow, I know just one of Chavin's crimes carries a maximum of 45 years (not that he'll get it), but I hope he's sentenced to total minimum of at least 50 years for all three crimes combined.