A Fayette County circuit judge refused Friday to grant a new trial for Shannon Houser, who was convicted earlier this month of fleeing the scene of an accident that killed a University of Kentucky freshman.
Connie Blount
Shannon Houser
The April accident killed Connie Blount, 18, who was crossing Broadway. According to testimony at the trial, Blount crossed Broadway against a light and had knelt down in the middle of the street.
Houser’s attorney, Ed Dove, argued that Houser should have a new trial because prosecutors didn’t provide sufficient evidence to prove that Houser had tampered with evidence after the accident.
At the trial, police said Houser removed the grill from the front of his pick-up after the accident. They did not say he tried to hide the grill, Dove said Friday morning.
“The jury inferred it was hidden, but that wasn’t the evidence,” Dove said.
Judge James Ishmael denied the motion. He also denied a request to grant Houser work release.
Houser is scheduled to be sentenced next month.
The headline on this article, “Judge refuses new trial for man convicted of killing UK student,” shows the problem. The headline is simply wrong: Houser was NOT convicted of killing anyone. He was convicted of leaving the scene of an accident and tampering with evidence. Now, don’t get me wrong: I don’t doubt that the jury thought they were convicting him of killing her, and the prosecution has certainly acted like he was convicted of killing her, and the jury’s recommended sentence would be consistent with a manslaughter verdict.
But that wasn’t what he was convicted for, and the headline should at least reflect reality, even if the legal system doesn’t seem to want to.
He’s a working class guy whom everyone thinks killed a girl from a wealthy family, and THAT’s what this case is about. If he’d been another UK student himself, or an upper middle class guy, these charges would never have been brought.
What makes him think he will fare any better the second time? He is guilty, but so is she, she was drunk wearing dark clothes in the middle of a road on a rainy night. Sometimes common sense just escapes teenagers, and terrible horrible consequences result. But he doesnt deserve another trial, who knows what may have happened if he had stopped and offered aid, or at least called 911 that awful night!