HOUSTON - One allegedly reckless moment dramatically changed Jeri Dawn Montgomery's life and ended someone else's.?
11 News Video
Jury finds woman criminally negligent in fatal car accident
October 2, 2009
On Friday, a jury found Montgomery guilty of criminally negligent homicide.?
Prosecutors say she had been on her cell phone just before she made a lane change where she struck a truck, killing 25-year-old Chance Wilcox.
"It won't bring him back.? It did justice, though," said Butch Wilcox, the victim's father.? "People use their cell phones, not watching what they're doing.? It's terrible it happened, but maybe this will help."
It is legal to talk on your phone while driving in Texas, but Montgomery's conviction is part of a get tough policy by the Harris County District Attorney's Office and HPD. They want to crack down on distracted drivers involved in accidents.
"If it results in a fatality, you're looking at possible felony charges," prosecutor Brent Mayr told 11 News before the case went to trial.? "This is something that we are going to consider, if that person was criminally negligent or reckless in their driving."
This doesn't simply involve people using their cell phones while behind the wheel.
"Using a cell phone, smoking a cigarette, talking to somebody in the back seat?anything that is distracting where you're not keeping a proper outlook could be criminally negligent," said 11 News legal expert Professor Gerald Treece.
For her negligence, Jeri Montgomery faces anywhere from two to ten years in prison and up to a $10,000 fine.
"There will never be relief," said Shelli Ralls, Wilcox's mother.?"It's justice for my son, and it's up to the jury to make a decision."
That decision will likely be made on Monday, when the jury resumes deliberations in the punishment phase of Montgomery's trial.
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