Hit-And-Run Defendant Wants Special Probation

By Andrew Gorosko

A Sherman man who has been charged in connection with a May hit-and-run accident on Route 302, in which he allegedly fled the scene after striking and seriously injuring a woman jogger, wants to participate in the state’s “accelerated rehabilitation” program, which is a special form of pretrial probation.

Michael Williams, 32, of Sherman, who is a self-employed carpenter, is charged with two felonies in the hit-and-run case. The charges are second degree assault with a motor vehicle and evading responsibility with serious injury. Mr Williams is free on $75,000 bail. Mr Williams has not yet pleaded to either charge.

In Danbury Superior Court on August 22, New Milford attorney Murray Kessler, representing Mr Williams, told Judge Barbara N. Bellis that he had planned to file an application for accelerated rehabilitation on behalf of Mr Williams that day. Mr Kessler added, however, that he must investigate the status of a legal matter in New York State to determine whether Mr Williams would be eligible to participate in the special probationary program in Connecticut. Mr Kessler did not elaborate.

If a judge does not reject an application for accelerated rehabilitation, the application then becomes the subject of a court hearing, at which the victim in the case is given an opportunity to comment on the suitability of the special probation.

Police allege that while driving his red 1995 Ford F-150 pickup truck at about 5 pm on May 29, Mr Williams ran over and seriously injured Marianne Ryder, 43, of Dodgingtown on Route 302 (Sugar Street), and then left the accident without stopping. Ms Ryder is recovering from multiple serious injuries. She spent three weeks as a patient in Danbury Hospital after the accident.

Ms Ryder was jogging eastward along the eastbound road shoulder of Route 302, about 2,000 feet east of Route 302’s intersection with Head O’ Meadow Road, when the eastbound pickup truck, allegedly driven by Mr Williams, struck Ms Ryder from behind. The area has a posted 40-mph speed limit. Weather conditions were clear. The road was dry.

After the May 29 accident, police spent about four hours investigating at the accident scene, collecting much evidence there. Police interviewed several witnesses at the time.

Following an investigation, on June 16 police charged Mr Williams with the evading responsibility with serious physical injury.

In court on August 1, the state added the charge of second degree assault with a motor vehicle. A person is guilty of second degree assault with a motor vehicle when he or she causes serious physical injury to another person as a result of being under the influence of intoxicating liquor or any drug or both, according to state law.

Accelerated rehabilitation is offered to defendants at a judge’s discretion. It is a special pretrial probation program in which a defendant does not admit guilt. Prosecution is deferred. The probation may last for up to two years. If the person who receives accelerated rehabilitation successfully completes the probation, the pending charges may then be dismissed. People with prior convictions are not eligible to participate.

In court on August 22, Mr Kessler, representing Mr Williams, requested and received a continuance of the case until September 12.

Mr Kessler told Judge Bellis that following the September 12 court appearance he would like to have Mr Williams’ case expedited by the court.

Following the August 22 court session, Mr Kessler declined to comment on the case.

“I’m not going to tell you anything,” he told The Bee.

Earlier this month, Mr Kessler had declined to comment on whether Mr Williams would be amenable to reaching a plea bargain agreement with the state prosecutor.

On the day following the accident, Newtown police executed a search-and-seizure warrant at 10 Blackberry Lane in Sherman, seizing Mr Williams’ truck. The truck’s right front grill and hood areas were damaged.

Police attempted to interview Mr Williams that day but “he refused to answer any questions based on the advice of legal counsel,” according to court papers.

On June 3, state police inspected the pickup truck for evidence of the accident. Police scraped a “bloodlike stain” from a mechanical part on the truck’s undercarriage, according to court papers. “Several pieces of evidence recovered from the accident scene were ‘perfect matches’ to damage on the front grill area of the red Ford pickup,” the legal papers state.