Jury Finds Women Not Guilty in the death of Tow Truck Operator

[TowNews]

Prosecutors said Sheridan Temms was driving 90 miles per hour before she collided with a parked car that struck and killed John William Hubbard on the side of Interstate 20/59.

 

Temms said she crashed into the median-side guardrail when another driver pulled into her lane to avoid the tow truck. She crossed back over two lanes of traffic before hitting the parked car on the shoulder.

 

Temms testified that she didn’t see the driver pulling into her lane, the tow truck or Hubbard changing a tire on the roadside.

 

“In order to believe that Ms. Temms did not see that tow truck, you’d have to believe she had blinders on,” said Tuscaloosa County Assistant District Attorney Eddie Sherlock. “She saw the truck, she saw the other vehicle and she didn’t make the adjustments she needed to. She should have made different choices and she did not.”

 

Temms had just dropped off her four children and was driving to work at 5:55 a.m. that Saturday in December 2016. The sun was just rising and it was still dark when traffic homicide investigators took photos of the crash site an hour later.

 

Attorney Josh Swords, representing Temms along with attorney Hunter Brown, said the other driver, a University of Alabama student at the time, was breaking the state’s move-over law when he pulled into her lane.

The man testified that Temms’ vehicle appeared to be about 100 yards behind him before he pulled to the left. He said he was about three-quarters of the way in the left lane and a quarter in the right lane.

The jury will reconvene at 9 a.m. Friday.

 

RESOURCE LINK

 

Jury returns not guilty verdict in case involving tow truck driver’s death

 

 

A jury has returned a verdict of not guilty in the case of a woman charged with causing the accident that killed a tow truck driver.

 

Sheridan Temms, 32, was charged with criminally negligent homicide after the crash in December 2016. She was in the left lane when another car pulled into her lane to avoid John Hubbard as he changed a tire on the side of Interstate 20/59.

 

Temms pulled to the left to avoid that vehicle before she struck the guardrail and crossed back over traffic. She struck the disabled vehicle that hit Hubbard, 25.

 

Her attorneys, Josh Swords and Hunter Brown, said that if anyone was at fault, it was the driver who pulled into Temms’ lane.

 

“Thank you to the jurors, our court system and the elected officials who presided over this trial to make sure fairness and justice is alive and well in Tuscaloosa County,” Swords said after the verdict was announced.

 

“We are very happy with the jury’s decision to find Ms. Temms not guilty of criminally negligent homicide,” Brown said. “What happened out on the interstate is a tragic accident and our hearts go out to the Hubbard family. We have to have faith in our system of justice, and this verdict reinforces that faith.”

 

Temms had just dropped off her four children and was driving to work at 5:55 a.m. that Saturday in December 2016. The sun was just rising and it was still dark when traffic homicide investigators took photos of the crash site an hour later. Prosecutors said she was driving 93 miles per hour right before the crash, and said the driver who pulled into her lane had no way of knowing that.

 

The jury began deliberations late Thursday and returned the verdict just after 11 a.m. Friday.

 

Jason Hubbard said he and his family members were disappointed in the verdict.

 

“It was just as difficult as receiving that phone call on December 10th, 2016,” he said.

 

“The best way to describe him after today -- even though this lady had caused him to lose his life ... -- if he saw her walking down the street tomorrow and she needed a shirt, he’d still pull that shirt off his back and give it to her,” he said of his brother.

 

Swords told the jury Thursday that drivers who can’t safely pull from a lane near emergency workers are required to remain in their lane and slow their speed to 15 miles per hour below the posted limit.

 

“Slow down and stay in your lane,” Swords said during closing arguments. “He didn’t do that. He slowed down and took up both lanes. He got in her lane, and that’s what caused the accident.

 

“She hit the brakes and turned left. He left her nowhere else to go. She was focused on staying in her lane,” he said. “He got three-quarters of the way into her lane and made her eat a guardrail.”

 

RESOURCE LINK

 

[TowZone]

feel today is the awakening of the towing industry. This Not Guilty verdict may be what sets the tow truck drivers off.

Mark the date.

May heart goes out to the family of the victim. More than 3 years after the lost, a jury presented with the facts the woman that struck and killed.John William "Bubba" Hubbard was driving  in excess of 90mph prior to losing control of her vehicle. I do not know what proof the had of another vehicle which may have cross into the lane. There are these thing called brakes.

 

Enough of these rules and verdicts which say as Tow Truck Operators our life's have little valued. Do you think the verdict would have been different had this been a police officer on the side of the road carrying out his duty?

 

One Day they're going to push the industry over the edge and either companies will such down and converge on there Government Locations such a State Capitals, Court Houses, etc. That or Tow Truck Operators are going to Gang Up and Call for a Sick Out. It's the industries choice, either come together as one voice or many voices are going to be heard with a day of silence. While I would prefer another solution, the time will come that Tow Truck Drivers who have been basically told their lives have little value. Well, those with little value will show just how valuable them and the services they provide are.....

 

We Stand Together or We Stand As One and Continue To Fall Alone...

[Doctor Tow]

Since police don't want to respond to block for us or give out tickets for people who don't slow down or move over, and juries apparently don't want to punish people who kill operators, I say all companies work together and when one of us get a call on the highway we block every lane and shut it down until the vehicle is loaded. Then we slowly reopen the highway. Maybe then they will realize that we are tired of being killed at a rate 3-4 higher than police and firefighters. 

 

It took forever to get legislation passed for the SDMO movement. It seems like it's taking even longer for it to actually make a difference in our working conditions.

 

It is abhorrent that this women got found not guilty for killing a man with her reckless driving. I don't know what the speed limit is on that road but I can pretty much guarantee that 93mph was exceeding it by at least 23mph. What a waste of the judicial process.

[Moose]

It seems like this is a trend, if this had been a Police Officer, Fire Fighter even EMS or maybe DOT she might have been found guilty. But a Tow Truck Driver or say A Garbage Collector we are discounted by the general public. What would happen if there were no vehicles being Towed or Trash being Collected. There comes a point when WE say enough is enough and as Professionals decide our lives and the jobs we do are as important as those who receive what seems to be much more respect. Let the vehicles sit for a day or two and the trash back up for a week. Our value and importance to society will not go unnoticed.

[Doctor Tow]

I say we all work together and shut entire highways down whenever one of us has to pick a car up on the highway. Or say any roadway where the speed limit is above 35mph. Maybe they will notice we are tired of being killed and none of them caring if we jam up traffic for a couple weeks whenever a car needs to be loaded.