Published: March 06, 2008 11:24 pm      

Boyd’s statements to officers to be allowed

Stacie Boyd’s trial set for May 12

CATLETTSBURG — Jurors in Stacie Boyd’s manslaughter trial will get to hear about incriminating statements she made to police officers shortly after she allegedly ran over and killed a man in a wheelchair.

Boyd’s attorney, James W. Lyon Jr., had sought to have those statements ruled inadmissible, claiming his client was not properly advised of her Miranda rights by the officers and never made a proper waiver of those rights before talking to police about the accident.

However, Boyd Circuit Judge C. David Hagerman ruled Thursday, following a hearing in his court, that Boyd had made a “voluntary and knowing” waiver of her rights and that prosecutors could therefore use her statements as evidence against her when her case goes to trial.

Boyd, 37, of Flatwoods, is charged with second-degree manslaughter and leaving the scene of an accident in the Oct. 17 incident that resulted in the death of 37-year-old Stephen T. Mills of Ashland.

Second-degree manslaughter is a Class C felony that carries a prison sentence of five to 10 years. Leaving the scene of an accident is a Class A misdemeanor punishable by a jail sentence of up to one year.

Boyd is accused of striking Mills as he was crossing Sixth Street in his motorized wheelchair about 11 p.m., according to the Ashland Police Department. Boyd allegedly was driving 45 to 50 mph in the 25 mph zone when her 2003 Kia Sedona made contact with Mills, the APD said.

Alcohol is believed to have been a factor in the accident. According to testimony at Thursday’s hearing, Boyd told police she had been drinking at the American Legion post in Ashland prior to the mishap.

Following the accident, Boyd drove to a friend’s house on Jones Street in Flatwoods, where she was arrested by Flatwoods police on a charge of driving under the influence.

Greenup County Sheriff’s Deputy Tom Robinson, who also lives on Jones Street, said he was alerted to the situation by Boyd’s friend’s boyfriend. He said the man told him Boyd’s badly damaged vehicle had “brain matter” on the front of it.

Robinson, who was off duty at the time, said Boyd told him she thought she had run over someone in a wheelchair in Ashland. He said he then contacted Boyd 911, believing there might be a person lying on the roadside in need of medical assistance, and then turned the matter over to Flatwoods police.

Flatwoods Police Sgt. Scott Gillum testified Boyd was “babbling” about running over someone with her vehicle and about how she didn’t mean to do it when he first arrived at the Jones Street location.

Boyd made those statements before he had a chance to advise her of her rights, Gillum said. Boyd also smelled of alcohol, was unsteady on her feet and slurred her words, he said.

After being informed of her rights, Boyd was taken to Our Lady of Bellefonte Hospital to have a blood sample drawn, Gillum said. At the hospital, Boyd phoned Lyon, who advised her to cooperate with the police, he said.

Ashland Police Sgt. Ryan Conley, who was working as a detective at the time of the accident, said he examined Boyd’s vehicle the night of the accident, while it was parked at the Jones Street residence. The van was badly damaged and had “carnage” over the front end, he said.

Boyd sobbed and occasionally dabbed at her eyes with a tissue during the more gruesome portions of Conley’s testimony.

Conley also said he brought with him a piece of broken headlight lens from the accident scene. When he held it up to one of the broken headlights on Boyd’s van, it matched “perfectly,” he said.

Conley said he later interviewed Boyd at the Greenup County Detention Center. He said she told him she initially thought she’d run over an animal but later realized she’d hit a man in a wheelchair.

Lyon had also sought to have the results of Boyd’s blood test ruled inadmissible on the basis that the blood sample was drawn outside of the two-hour “window” mandated by Kentucky law in DUI cases.

However, while maintaining the sample was taken “well within” the two-hour time limit, Assistant Commonwealth’s Attorney Scott Reese argued the law pertaining to DUI cases was irrelevant since Boyd was not being prosecuted for DUI.

Hagerman ruled the results of the tests would be admissible. However, he said jurors would not be instructed on the “presumption” that applies in DUI cases — that a person with a blood-alcohol level of .08 or greater is considered legally drunk.

Hagerman also rescheduled Boyd’s trial, which had been set for April 1, for May 12.