A Houston County jury has asked a judge to clarify the charges against a woman on trial for the death of her son.
After deliberating for almost two hours in the manslaughter case of Crystal Finnegan, the jury asked Circuit Judge Butch Binford to redefine the charge as well as all possible lesser included offenses.
Crystal Finnegan has been charged with manslaughter and two counts of first degree assault.
The incident happened on a rainy day June 29, 2008, when Finnegan and her two sons were traveling north on the east side of Ross Clark Circle. Witnesses and other evidence indicate she was traveling at a high rate of speed – possibly 75 miles an hour or faster – when she lost control of her pickup, slid across the median and collided with a church bus full of middle and high school students from Kentucky. The accident killed Rippen Upton, and severely injured Brody Upton. Dianna Combs, a passenger in the bus, was also severely injured.
The jury could also find Finnegan guilty of vehicular homicide or criminally negligent homicide instead of manslaughter, and could find her guilty of third degree assault instead of first degree assault. The jury could also acquit Finnegan of all charges. Binford gave the legal definition of all possible offenses to the jury and it returned to its deliberations Tuesday afternoon.
Finnegan testified in her own defense Tuesday morning. She sobbed uncontrollably as her attorney, Matt Lamere, asked her about the details surrounding the accident in June of 2008.
Finnegan spent less than 10 minutes on the stand Tuesday, and said she did not remember telling an officer she had been traveling at a high rate of speed following the accident. Monday, an officer testified Finnegan told him she was traveling around 75 miles per hour on Ross Clark Circle before the accident.
Finnegan said her last memory was singing with Rippen and Brody before waking up in the hospital.
To convict Finnegan of manslaughter, the jury must conclude her actions constituted a reckless disregard for human life. The jury must conclude Finnegan demonstrated "extreme indifference" for human life in order to convict of first degree assault.
Assistant District Attorney Banks Smith said during closing arguments that Finnegan’s high rate of speed in rainy conditions prove recklessness.
“Certainly reckless,” Smith said.
However, Lamere argued Finnegan was simply negligent. He repeated testimony from an officer earlier in the trial who testified that motorists often speed on Ross Clark Circle.
He said that regardless of the verdict, Finnegan would always suffer.
“That lady is going to be in jail for the rest of her life,” Lamere said.
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