St. Louis Injury Attorney Blog

Chivas Day, of St. Louis, Missouri, was sentenced to 11 years in prison for his role in the St. Louis area traffic accident that killed Matthew Cole, 23, of Maryville, Illinois. Matthew Cole was driving home from work on the Martin Luther King Bridge when Chivas Day, who was driving under the influence of ecstasy and marijuana, crossed the center line and hit Cole's car head-on. Chivas Day was driving over 100 miles per hour, and the police reported that the gas pedal was fully compressed at the time the accident occurred.

Chivas Day also suffered severe personal injuries because of the automobile accident, including a broken leg, arm, neck, and ankle, and had severe head injuries. Urine tests showed the presence of marijuana and ecstasy, but blood tests taken at the hospital did not show the presence of any drugs or alcohol in Day's system. Either way, Day was driving at speeds well over the speed limit when he hit Cole's car. Further, Day was driving with a revoked licensed at the time of the car crash.

St. Louis federal authorities arrested 24 people in connection with a St. Louis marijuana smuggling ring that stretched from Arizona to St. Louis, Missouri. David Ingram Henderson, of Maryland Heights, Missouri, was considered the ringleader of the drug operation that, since 2006, has been transporting marijuana across the country.

The operation also included growing marijuana in several houses in St. Louis. It is alleged that over 1,000 kilograms of marijuana were brought into St. Louis as a result of this drug operation. The suspects allegedly transported the money back to Arizona by car, plane and bus, and laundered the money through banks and casinos. For example, some members of this organization went to Ameristar Casino in St. Charles, Missouri, and inserted $13,660 in slot machines and immediately printed out vouchers, which they cashed in with the cashier. They never actually played the slot machines. This drug operation also involved flying to Amsterdam to obtain marijuana seeds.

Continue reading "St. Louis, Missouri marijuana operation busted" »

The criminal trial of two men allegedly involved in a brutal 1992 murder began on Tuesday in St. Louis Federal Court. James K. Kornhardt and Steven A. Mueller are accused of playing a role in the murder of Danny Coleman, who at the time of the murder was 38 years old.

Coleman was killed in a home on the 7800 block of Michigan Avenue in St. Louis and taken to Franklin County where his body was set on fire in his own truck. The prosecutor, Assistant U.S. Attorney Tom Dittmeier, said during opening statements that Coleman's wife, Karen Coleman, initiated a plot to murder her husband in order to obtain insurance money. Karen Coleman previously pleaded guilty to conspiracy and murder for hire.

Newton Keene, a St. Louis area man, was sentenced to 28 years in prison today for his role in a traffic accident that killed three. Keene was driving drunk when he drove the wrong way down I-255 in Illinois, and he hit a car driven by Tawanda Jackson, who was driving to her grandmother's funeral with her friend and children. Tawanda, her 9-year old son, and her friend were killed. Tawanda's daughter survived.

Keene was a repeat Missouri DWI offender, as well as having DWIs in Illinois, and had a total of at least 5 DWIs at the time of the crash. He had already served time in prison for his fifth DWI. His blood alcohol content was 0.240 at the time of the incident. Keene pleaded guilty to 3 counts of aggravated drunk driving that resulted in death, and one count of aggravated drunk driving that resulted in bodily injury.

Continue reading "St. Louis area man sentenced to maximum sentence for DWI offense that killed 3" »

Missouri House Bill 1695, which allows the police to draw blood from a driver suspected of driving under the influence, has moved one step closer to law after passing in the House. The bill states that any person operating a motor vehicle is deemed to consent to the testing of his breath, blood, urine or saliva for purposes of determining if he is driving under the influence of drugs or alcohol.

House Bill 1695 makes many changes to DWI laws in Missouri. The bill proposes tougher penalties for drivers driving with a blood alcohol content of 0.15 or more. The bill also addresses communication between various police agencies, so that different agencies can be made aware of DUIs a person has received in other jurisdictions.

Missouri Senate Bill 880 is currently working its way through the Senate, and has many of the same provisions.

For a full summary of the bill, click here.

The truck driver responsible for the 2008 auto accident in St. Louis that killed 3 and injured 14 others was sentenced to one year in jail for the manslaughter charges brought against him. In the summer of 2008, Jeffrey R. Knight was driving on Highway 40 in St. Louis when he reached for his cell phone. Because he was distracted, he did not see that traffic on Highway 40 was stopped. Once he realized traffic was stopped, he was unable to slow his semi truck in time to avoid plowing into traffic.

Knight was released from jail after the judge gave him credit for time served. He had already served 371 days in jail. He plead guilty to the charges against him.

Mark Tiburzi was among those involved in the crash that suffered severe personal injury as a result of the accident. Although he survived, he is unable to walk and talk, and lives in a nursing facility. He was awarded $18 million dollars in a settlement from the trucking company and Knight. However, the family says they have not received any money yet.

There are other unresolved personal injury claims against Knight.

Traffic accidents involving commercial semi trucks can have serious consequences. In 2008, large trucks were involved in 6,866 traffic accidents in Missouri, resulting in 109 deaths and 2,215 injuries.