A man accused of aggravated battery and leaving the scene of a Cortez crash in 2019 will face a new trail in September.
Police arrested David Nichols, 60, of Bradenton, in November 2019 and he went to trial in December 2022, when jurors deadlocked on the case.
Prosecutors allege that Nichols hit and dragged Fred “Fat Freddy” Gilliland of Cortez underneath his vehicle for nearly a block on 101st Street West.
Gilliland sustained injuries to his spleen, a lacerated liver, rib fractures, a collapsed lung and facial lacerations. Also, his right arm was amputated.
With the jury in 2022 unable to agree on a verdict, a judge declared a mistrial.
Nichols requested a new trial in a handwritten letter dated July 24 and addressed to the Manatee County Clerk of the Circuit Court. Nichols requested the trial under rule 3.640 of the Florida criminal procedures, which says a new trial “shall proceed in all respects as if no former trail had occurred except when an offense is divided into degrees or the charge includes a lesser offense.”
Court records show no changes to the charges against Nichols.
If convicted, Nichols faces a mandatory prison sentence with a maximum penalty of 15 years.
Nichol’s case was scheduled for the trial period beginning Tuesday, Sept. 5, at the Manatee County Judicial Center, 1051 Manatee Ave. W., Bradenton.
Nichols has been in the Manatee County jail since Oct. 25, 2022, after being denied reinstatement
of $150,000 bond stemming from a citation for allegedly driving with a suspended license. The citation was a violation of the conditions of his pretrial release.