The first step has been completed in litigating a May 12 pedestrian crash that left one person dead in Holmes Beach.
12th Circuit Judge Robert Farrance withheld adjudication Aug. 9 against Michael Ritchie, 43, a Bradenton Fire Department driver/engineer, but ruled Ritchie guilty of failure to yield right of way to pedestrians Deborah and Miriam Trotter.
Farrance’s ruling ordered Ritchie to pay a $166 traffic citation and $21 in subpoena costs, as well as complete a four-hour basic driver improvement course within 60 days.
Ritchie struck the Trotters with his 2018 GMC 2500 as they crossed Gulf Drive with an active “walk” signal between S&S Plaza and the defunct Wells Fargo building.
They were taken to HCA Florida Blake Hospital in Bradenton, where Deborah Trotter, 65, of Holmes Beach, was treated and released the same day.
Her mother, Miriam Trotter, 86, of Maryland, suffered critical injuries and died May 17.
Ritchie was not arrested and had not been charged with a criminal offense as of Aug. 12.
However, Holmes Beach Police Officer Alexander Hurt issued a noncriminal traffic citation to Ritchie for refusing to yield the right of way to the Trotters.
Attorney David Haenel of Sarasota-based The Law Place filed a plea of not guilty May 22 and requested a trial by judge on behalf of his client, Ritchie.
The contest culminated in an Aug. 9 traffic court hearing before Farrance.
Haenel represented Ritchie alongside private investigator and former traffic homicide investigator Sean O’Leary, who joined Ritchie’s counsel table as an expert.
The state does not prosecute civil traffic citations, so no prosecuting attorney was present to argue against the defense.
In lieu of a prosecutor, the citing officer — Hurt — can attend traffic court and present witnesses to justify the issuance of a citation.
Hurt attended the Aug. 9 hearing and three witnesses were subpoenaed to testify: Deborah Trotter, Ashley Caratini of Bradenton and Alan Miller of Canton, Ohio.
Miller — who was in another lane at the intersection during the crash — did not attend the hearing.
Hurt began testimony by detailing the incident.
Ritchie was in Marina Drive’s southbound left-turn lane in a white pickup, the first motorist in line at a red light at Gulf Drive, where roadway construction was ongoing and new traffic signals were operating.
The Trotters were at the southeast corner of the intersection and entered the crosswalk after receiving a signal to cross Gulf Drive.
At roughly the same time, Ritchie’s signal turned solid green. He proceeded to turn left onto Gulf and into the crosswalk, striking both the Trotters before coming to a stop.
Caratini, who was the motorist in line behind Ritchie, witnessed the collision and called 911.
Hurt said he arrived about 20 minutes after the collision — behind officers who arrived within three minutes — at which point the Trotters had already been taken by Manatee County Emergency Medical Services.
Hurt said he investigated by taking measurements and interviewing Ritchie, then speaking to Caratini and Miller over the phone the next day.
He said the newly installed traffic signal at the intersection was not programmed to turn red in accordance with the pedestrian crossing signal, resulting in the conflicting signals, but they were reprogrammed to do so shortly after the collision.
Haenel argued that the sidewalk the Trotters used before the collision and the crosswalk where they were struck were closed to the public due to construction at the intersection.
Hurt acknowledged signs along the sidewalk indicated restricted access but said the crosswalk remained active.
He said the city covered pedestrian crossing signals at the intersection following the collision, until the pedestrian and vehicle traffic signals there could be reprogrammed to work in coordination.
Trotter was the first witness to testify. She said she was walking with her mother to the Island Library, 5701 Marina Drive, and waited for a crossing signal before entering the crosswalk.
Trotter said they began crossing Gulf Drive when she saw an unknown motorist in a black truck drive through the intersection, leading her to believe it had run a red light.
She said she looked back to tell her mom about the motorist and by the time she turned around, Ritchie’s vehicle was driving into her.
Trotter said she lost sensation following the collision and couldn’t see or move her body. She said she continues to suffer bouts of dizziness and head pain.
Haenel asked Trotter if she remembered if the sidewalk they were in before taking the crosswalk was closed. She said she did not recall it being closed.
Farrance asked Trotter if she had retained an attorney related to personal injury, property damage, as well as physical and emotional pain as a result of the incident. She affirmed that she had.
The last witness to testify was Caratini.
Caratini said she saw the Trotters enter the crosswalk when the light turned green and Ritchie’s vehicle slowly roll forward, leading her to believe he saw the pedestrians, so she held back from using her horn.
Caratini said Ritchie committed to the turn and collided with the Trotters and she called 911.
She said she harbored guilt over the incident for not honking her horn to stop Ritchie.
Haenel asked Caratini if she recalled the black truck seen by Trotter before the collision or if she noticed that the sidewalk was closed.
Caratini said she did not see a black truck reported by Trotter — Ritchie drove a white truck — but noted the crosswalk did not appear to be closed. She said a portion of Marina Drive had been closed with barricades but not the sidewalk south of Gulf Drive.
When asked if Ritchie would testify, Haenel said, “That’s not going to happen.”
In closing arguments, Haenel argued that a connection between the collision and Miriam Trotter’s death had not been established by the presentation of a death certificate or testimony from a medical expert.
Hurt said a medical examiner’s report established a cause of death but Farrance dismissed it since the hearing was to consider closed testimony.
Farrance said Caratini’s testimony solidified the failure-to-yield citation but without causation to Trotter’s death due to the lack of medical testimony.
Farrance ordered Ritchie to pay the citation and subpoena costs, as well as attend driving school but withheld adjudication due to a previously clean record.
Withholding adjudication means a person is found guilty but not formally convicted.
Farrance added that his ruling makes no determination about potential civil liability, personal injury or property damage.
Trotter declined to comment after the hearing.
Haenel told The Islander the ruling was “very fair.”
Bradenton had previously opened an administrative review of the incident, based on Ritchie’s city job as a fire department driver/engineer.
City administrator Rob Perry told The Islander on Aug. 14 that the Bradenton Fire Department would review Farrance’s ruling and provide a recommendation on Ritchie’s employment to the city for consideration.