Oak Ridge Today

Jury finds Patty guilty of homicide in fatal car-motorcycle crash

Posted at
By Leave a Comment

Pictured above at left during the trial for Noelle Patty, center, of Oak Ridge, in Anderson County Criminal Court on Wednesday, July 25, 2018, are defense attorneys Michael Ritter, left, and David Ege. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

Pictured above at left during the trial for Noelle Patty, 41, center, of Oak Ridge, in Anderson County Criminal Court on Wednesday, July 25, 2018, are defense attorneys Michael Ritter, left, and David Ege. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

 

Note: This story was last updated at 4:20 p.m.

CLINTON—An Anderson County jury on Wednesday found an Oak Ridge resident guilty of criminally negligent homicide after a fatal car-motorcycle crash on North Illinois Avenue more than two years ago.

The jury of 10 men and two women deliberated about three hours before reaching its unanimous verdict at the end of a two-day trial of Noelle Leigh Patty, 41, in Anderson County Criminal Court in Clinton.

Patty was found not guilty of a second count, reckless endangerment with a deadly weapon, but the jury did find her guilty of what is known as a lesser included offense, a charge of reckless endangerment.

Patty was convicted of the two charges in the death of motorcyclist Rufus E. Shephard III, 44, of Oak Ridge.

“They finally got my brother some justice,” said Linda Shephard, after family members had exchanged hugs and tears with prosecutors and police officers. [Read more…]

Updated: State won’t prosecute three misdemeanors in fatal car-motorcycle crash

Posted at
By Leave a Comment

Noelle Leigh Patty

Noelle Leigh Patty

Note: This story was updated at 4 p.m. July 25.

The state will not prosecute three misdemeanor charges that had been filed against an Oak Ridge woman after a fatal car-motorcycle crash more than two years ago, but prosecutors will proceed to trial on two felony charges: criminally negligent homicide and reckless endangerment.

The trial has been scheduled for Tuesday for Noelle Leigh Patty, 41, in Anderson County Criminal Court in Clinton. Patty has been charged with homicide in the death of motorcyclist Rufus E. Shephard III, 44, of Oak Ridge.

The court was notified of the state’s decision not to prosecute the three misdemeanor charges last week, and a judgement was filed Tuesday, July 17. The three misdemeanor charges are failure to yield the right of way resulting in death, failure to obey a traffic control device, and failure to provide evidence of insurance.

“The state has elected to go to trial only on the felony charges in Count 1 and 5,” said the state’s notice, filed last week by Seventh Judicial District Assistant District Attorney General Emily Faye Abbott. [Read more…]

Courts: Trial scheduled in fatal car-motorcycle crash

Posted at
By Leave a Comment

Noelle Leigh Patty

Noelle Leigh Patty

CLINTON—A trial has been scheduled this month for an Oak Ridge woman charged with homicide after a fatal car-motorcycle crash on North Illinois Avenue in January 2016.

Noelle Leigh Patty

Noelle Leigh Patty

CLINTON—A trial has been scheduled this month for an Oak Ridge woman charged with homicide after a fatal car-motorcycle crash on North Illinois Avenue in January 2016.

The felony jury trial for Noelle Leigh Patty, 41, is scheduled for July 24 in Anderson County Criminal Court in Clinton. Patty has been charged with homicide in the death of motorcyclist Rufus E. Shephard III, 44, of Oak Ridge.

On Friday, Anderson County Criminal Court Judge Don Elledge rejected a motion to dismiss two of the five charges filed against Patty: criminally negligent homicide and reckless endangerment when a deadly weapon is involved. The Anderson County Grand Jury has found probable cause on the five charges, Elledge said, and no facts or evidence had been presented to the court yet. He called the motion to dismiss “totally premature.”

Patty was indicted on the five charges by the Anderson County Grand Jury on August 1, 2017. Besides homicide and reckless endangerment, the charges included failure to yield the right-of-way resulting in death, failure to obey a traffic control device, and failure to provide proof of insurance.

The crash occurred between a Cadillac STS car and Kawasaki Ninja motorcycle on Sunday evening, January 31, 2016, at the western exit of the Westcott Center, the Kroger shopping center. Authorities said Patty, who was driving the Cadillac, made an improper left turn from a right-turn-only lane at that exit, and she failed to yield to Shephard, who was riding the motorcycle north on North Illinois Avenue. Shephard died after he collided with the car, which was turning south in “the pathway of northbound traffic,” Oak Ridge Police Department Officer Chris Luethge said in arrest warrants filed after the crash.

The rest of this story, which you will find only on Oak Ridge Today, is available if you are a member: a subscriber, advertiser, or recent contributor to Oak Ridge Today. The rest of the story includes information about the “undisputed facts,” results of alcohol and drug tests, and arguments for and against dismissing two of the five charges.

Already a member? Great! Thank you! Sign in here.

Not a member? No problem! Subscribe here:

Please let us know if you advertise on Oak Ridge Today, have recently contributed, or subscribe through PayPal or check payments, but you have not yet been added to our website as a member. You can send an email to [email protected] to be added. Thank you!

Note: Most news stories on Oak Ridge Today are free, brought to you by Oak Ridge Today with help from our advertisers, sponsors, and subscribers. Some are considered premium content. This story is premium content. Premium content can include coverage of court cases and in-depth, investigative, and exclusive stories.

Woman charged with homicide in death of motorcyclist

Posted at
By Leave a Comment

Noelle Leigh Patty

Noelle Leigh Patty

 

This story was last updated at 12:30 p.m.

An Oak Ridge woman has been charged with homicide in the death of a motorcyclist in a fatal car-motorcycle crash on North Illinois Avenue in January 2016. It’s one of two new felony charges added in the case against Noelle Leigh Patty, 40.

Patty is accused of criminally negligent conduct that resulted in the death of motorcyclist Rufus E. Shephard III, 44, of Oak Ridge, at the western exit of the Westcott Center, the Kroger shopping center, on January 31, 2016.

Patty was indicted by the Anderson County Grand Jury on August 1, 2017, and she is facing five criminal charges. Two of the charges are felonies, and three are misdemeanors. The two felony charges, which are both new, are criminally negligent homicide and reckless endangerment when a deadly weapon is involved. The three misdemeanor charges are failure to obey a traffic control device, failure to provide proof of insurance, and failure to yield the right of way, resulting in death. [Read more…]

Preliminary hearing set for January in fatal car-motorcycle crash

Posted at
By Leave a Comment

Rufus E. Shephard III and Motorcycle

Rufus E. Shephard III is pictured above riding a motorcycle. (Photo courtesy Annette Shephard)

 

A preliminary hearing has been set for January 2017 for a woman charged after a fatal car-motorcycle crash on North Illinois Avenue in January 2016, court officials said.

The preliminary hearing has been scheduled for 9 a.m. January 19, 2017, in Anderson County General Sessions Court Division II in Oak Ridge.

The defendant, Noelle Leigh Patty, 29, of Oak Ridge, has been charged with failure to yield the right-of-way, resulting in death; a violation of the law to obey traffic control devices; and a failure to provide proof of financial responsibility.

There was a status hearing for Patty on Thursday, although she did not have to appear. She was expected to enter a plea, waive the charges to a grand jury, or set a date for a preliminary hearing. [Read more…]

Defendant in fatal car-motorcycle crash expected to enter plea, waive charges to grand jury, or set preliminary hearing

Posted at
By Leave a Comment

Rufus E. Shephard III and Motorcycle

Rufus E. Shephard III is pictured above riding a motorcycle. (Photo courtesy Annette Shephard)

 

An Oak Ridge woman facing three misdemeanor charges in a fatal car-motorcycle crash on North Illinois Avenue in January is expected to enter a plea next week, waive the charges to a grand jury, or set a date for a preliminary hearing, court officials said Thursday.

Judge Roger Miller, of Anderson County General Sessions Court Division II in Oak Ridge, said he doesn’t want to reset the case against Noelle Leigh Patty, 29, again. Patty had a status hearing on Thursday, September 1.

She has another status hearing set for 9 a.m. Thursday, September 8, in the Division II court in Oak Ridge. Patty does not have to appear.

The three misdemeanor charges filed against her are failure to yield the right-of-way, resulting in death; a violation of the law to obey traffic control devices; and a failure to provide proof of financial responsibility.

Authorities said Patty, who was driving a Cadillac STS on Sunday evening, January 31, made an improper left turn from a right-turn-only lane at the western exit of the Westcott Center, the Kroger shopping center, and she failed to yield to Rufus E. Shephard III, 44, of Oak Ridge, who was riding a Kawasaki Ninja motorcycle north on North Illinois Avenue. Shephard died after colliding with the car, which was turning south in “the pathway of northbound traffic,” Oak Ridge Police Department Officer Chris Luethge said in arrest warrants filed after the crash. [Read more…]

Oak Ridge woman charged with traffic violations in fatal car-motorcycle crash

Posted at
By 2 Comments

North-Illinios-Avenue-Crash-Jan-31-2016-1

An Oak Ridge woman has been charged with three traffic violations in the fatal car-motorcycle crash on North Illinois Avenue near the Kroger shopping center on January 31. Authorities said the woman, who was driving the car, made an improper left turn from a right-turn-only lane and failed to yield to the motorcyclist, who died. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

 

An Oak Ridge woman has been charged with three traffic violations in the fatal car-motorcycle crash on North Illinois Avenue near the Kroger shopping center on January 31.

Rufus E. Shephard III, 44, of Oak Ridge, died in the crash.

Noelle L. Patty, 29, is accused of failing to obey a traffic control device before the crash, according to arrest warrants filed in Anderson County General Sessions Court in Oak Ridge. That traffic control device is on an access road that connects the Kroger shopping center to North Illinois Avenue. It indicates a right turn only, but Patty turned left, headed south, from the shopping center access road onto Illinois Avenue, Oak Ridge Police Department Officer Chris Luethge said in the warrants.

That left turn put the Cadillac STS that Patty was driving into the path of northbound traffic on North Illinois Avenue, where a Kawasaki Ninja motorcycle driven north by Shephard collided with the Cadillac driven by Patty, Luethge said.

Shepard was launched into the Cadillac and then over it onto the asphalt, where he died, the warrants said. [Read more…]