UPDATE: WOMAN CONVICTED OF NEGLIGENT HOMICIDE AFTER BEING DISTRACTED BY TALKING ON HER CELL PHONE | Dallas, Texas Personal Injury Attorney Blog

Following the October 8, 2009 guilty verdict and sentencing of Jeri Montgomery (24) a Humble, Texas woman for negligent homicide in connection with the deadly accident she caused in which she was accused of being distracted by talking on her cell phone, the Harris County District Attorney calls the actions of a Humble woman accused of causing an accident after getting off of her cell phone selfish and narcissistic. The jury convicted Jeri Montgomery of negligent homicide, and she is serving a 30 day jail sentence for causing the accident that killed Chance Wilcox. She was also sentenced to ten years probation.

The Harris County District Attorney Pat Lykos commented, “She’s talking on her darn phone and then she misses her entrance to the freeway,” said. “Big deal. Just drive down to the next one. Why endanger everybody on the road? Part of that is selfishness.” While driving and talking on a cell phone is not against the law in Harris County, unless you are in a school zone, Texas law allows prosecutors to press charges for Negligent Homicide in the event they believe a driver of a motor vehicle was negligent for any reason. In this case, the negligence involves driving while being distracted because of the use of a cell phone. As a result, the District Attorney’s warning is clear to drivers in Harris County that if you are driving in Harris County, you should consider yourself warned. If people are driving while being distracted, regardless of what the distraction is, and engage in another reckless act and cause an accident,” they may be charged with a crime.

Interestingly, the convicted driver, Jeri Montgomery, reportedly told a CBS Reporter that she doesn’t think she got a fair shot, and her attorney has filed for an appeal.

This case is important not only to drivers in Harris County, but to all Texans because it highlights that while the law in Texas does not specifically make it illegal to use a cellular telephone while driving in all situations, in an appropriate case, criminal charges can be brought against drivers who drive recklessly because of being distracted by using the phone. See our blog for a summary of the current Texas laws that make it illegal to drive while using a cellular telephone, but beware that some cities have enacted ordinances that may also limit the use of a telephone while driving

1 Comment

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