Comment

 

Trooper will face charges for Collinsville deaths

Four-count indictment leveled in November crash

http://granitecitypress-record.stltoday.com

By Chris Coates
Saturday, March 15, 2008 2:48 PM CDT

The lawyer for two Collinsville sisters killed when an Illinois State Police trooper plowed into their car, killing both, said the indictment filed against the officer Friday should send a message to other police.

”We’re hoping this will make every officer think twice when they have high-speed pursuits,” said Fairview Heights attorney Thomas Keefe after a special grand jury ruled there was enough evidence to charge Trooper Matthew Mitchell in the Nov. 23 deaths of sisters Jessica E. Uhl, 18, and Kelli C. Uhl, 13. State Police investigators in January testified at a coroner’s jury hearing that Mitchell was driving 126 mph on eastbound Interstate 64 near O’Fallon when he lost control of his police cruiser, crossed a grassy median and hit a car in the westbound lanes driven by Jessica Uhl.The crash pushed the 2003 Mazda sedan into a sport utility vehicle carrying a family from Fayetteville. The Uhls died at the scene. The indictment handed down on Friday charged Mitchell with two counts of reckless homicide for killing the Uhl sisters and two counts of aggravated reckless driving for causing injuries to passengers in the SUV. Mitchell, 29, of Carlyle, was summoned to appear in court Thursday at 10 a.m. He could face up to 16 years in prison if found guilty on all charges. Mitchell, who has not been not arrested, could not be reached for comment Friday. Calls to Uhl family members were also not returned. St. Clair County State’s Attorney Robert B. Haida in a news conference in Belleville said the grand jury heard from two witnesses, both State Police accident reconstructionists, over the five-day hearing. Asked later whether the reconstructionists were impartial enough to objectively investigate one of their own, Haida said the grand jury never raised issues about the officials. “It’s reasonable to conclude that the grand jury felt they met the standard,” he said. Haida would also not elaborate about a key revelation in the indictment: that Mitchell may have been distracted while speeding down I-64 responding to the call. Specifically, the four-count indictment said Mitchell was driving too fast for both the conditions and “other activities he was engaged in while driving.” Haida said grand jury rules said he could not elaborate about the distraction. Mitchell’s trial could start as soon as next month, Haida said. Keefe said the charges fit what the family and he expected. “Driving 126 mph sounds pretty reckless to me,” he said, adding that no decision has been made about whether the family will seek civil damages in the deaths. “We’re taking this one step at a time,” he said.