An East Central District Court judge Monday denied an appeal for a new trial for a man convicted of leaving the scene of a fatal accident.
Judge Steven McCullough denied the motion by an attorney for Kenneth Jacob Jr., 50, New York Mills, Minn.
Earlier this month, an East Central District Court jury acquitted Jacob of murder but convicted him on a felony charge of leaving the scene of an accident involving death.
The charges stemmed from the June 10 death of Stephen Nelson, 52, no permanent address.
Nelson, who had a .42 blood alcohol level, was lying behind Jacob's truck, which was parked in an NP Avenue lot. Jacob testified at the trial that he did not know Nelson was behind his truck when he got into it, briefly backed up, ran over Nelson and left the scene.
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Kenneth Jacob Jr.
Jurors were unconvinced that Jacob knew Nelson was behind him but decided that he should have stopped to investigate after feeling the truck bump as it pulled away.
In Monday's hearing, Steve Mottinger, Jacob's attorney, argued that the verdict was "inconsistent and illogical." Since Jacob didn't know Nelson was behind the truck, there would have been no reason for him to stop, even after he felt the bumps, Mottinger said.
Cass County Assistant State's Attorney Mark Boening argued that Jacob could have seen Nelson's body in his mirror as he pulled out, so he should have stopped.
In denying the motion for a new trial, McCullough said the jury's verdict was not illogical. The bumps gave Jacob reason to suspect an accident had occurred, so he should've stopped and investigated, the judge said.
After the hearing, Mottinger said he didn't know if he would take further action to get the verdict overturned.
"We've got to get through sentencing first," he said.
The results of a pre-sentence investigation have not yet come in and no sentencing date has been set.
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(Tom Pantera writes for The Forum of Fargo-Moorhead, a Forum Communications Co. newspaper)
