Sorrowful 3 get probation in scooter driver's death

By Shavonne Potts

spotts@salisburypost.com

Three Rowan County people accepted a plea agreement and were sentenced to probation Tuesday in the 2006 death of a scooter rider.

Patsy Morgan, 21, Rachel Miller, 21, and Derek Talbert, 23, were passengers in a vehicle whose occupants threw eggs at scooter rider Michael Jason Brown early on the morning of May 12, 2006.

Tuesday's hearing came two months after three others — Brandon Lowery, 23, Eric Taylor, 21, and Alstin Vanderford, 21, — pleaded guilty to misdemeanor death by motor vehicle and leaving the scene of an accident, a felony.

Had there been a trial, Rowan County District Attorney Bill Kenerly said Tuesday that Morgan, Miller and Talbert agreed to testify about that night in exchange for the dismissal or reduction of the original involuntary manslaughter charges against them.

All six were in a sport utility vehicle driven by Eric Taylor. The six defendants told investigators some of them had been drinking that night and then bought eggs at Wal-Mart, which they used to egg houses.

They eventually turned their attention to Brown, who was riding a scooter on U.S. 52. The scooter crashed on the side of the road, but the young people drove away and told no one.

An initial investigation concluded Brown was involved in a single-vehicle accident. In January 2007, his body was exhumed for an autopsy, and in February 2007, authorities charged the six young people.

Kenerly said Tuesday the physical evidence suggests the scooter and SUV did not collide but Brown was in his own lane of the road.

"The Jeep approached the mo-ped. The Jeep swerved left," he said.

The scooter skidded and crashed.

The group in the SUV heard a bump, stopped briefly, but kept going.

Brown's neck was fractured when he was thrown from the scooter.

In their statements to sheriff's detectives, some details of what happened that night differ. What is clear is that all six agreed not to say anything.

"The driver and two passengers who threw eggs were primarily responsible," Kenerly said.

Investigators found "no evidence" that Miller, Morgan and Talbert, the three in court Tuesday, "participated in the egging," Kenerly said.

Of all six, Kenerly said he considered Morgan, Miller and Talbert the "most believable."

Sentence

Miller, Morgan and Talbert each received a sentence of 45 days in jail, but a judge suspended each sentence while each serves 30 months of unsupervised probation.

They must all pay restitution to cover the Brown family's funeral and medical expenses, as well as exhumation costs.

They'll each have to complete 100 hours of community service and write an apology letter to Brown's mother.

The judge said Morgan and Miller have no previous convictions. However, Talbert has a 2005 conviction, which the judge alluded to but did not specifically name.

Apology

Brown's mother, Elizabeth Brown, and grandmother, Betty Brown, spoke about how this event has changed the lives of Michael Brown's three children and their family.

Elizabeth Brown said she felt like all those involved should serve some jail time.

None has.

Lowery, Taylor and Vanderford were placed under electronic house arrest. They also each have to pay a $1,000 fine, surrender their driver's licenses, do community service and submit to drug tests.

If Morgan, Miller and Talbert didn't throw eggs, they should have called law enforcement for help, Elizabeth Brown said.

"Michael just happened to be in the way. They used him as a target," she said.

"... I'm not happy. ... If this is what you call punishment, it's not," she said.

Betty Brown said her grandchildren don't understand why this happened to their father.

She said she feels the six defendants didn't care. "It's hard to forgive someone when you don't know why," she said.

Sobbing, Morgan turned to the Brown family and said she was sorry.

Morgan's attorney, Winston-Salem's David Freedman, said his client's crime was a "matter of omission rather than commission."

Morgan is majoring in education and hopes to teach young children, and she learned a lesson, though a hard one, Freedman said.

"She does live with this pain," he said, though nothing compared to the Brown family.

Talbert's attorney, David Bingham, said the hardest thing for his client was wishing he could change things.

Facing the Brown family, Talbert said, "No matter what I say, nothing will make you forgive me, but I do apologize."

Also crying, Miller turned to the family to apologize. "I'm so sorry about everything that happened that night," she said.

Miller's attorney, Greg Jones, echoed Freedman's sentiments, saying they all learned a harsh lesson. "These folks should've done what was right," Jones said.

He said evidence showed Brown would not likely have survived from his injuries. "His injuries were pretty catastrophic," Jones said.

Kenerly has said no evidence suggested Brown would have have survived if he had gotten immediate medical attention.

Before accepting the agreement, visiting Superior Court Judge Susan Taylor expressed her sorrow to the Brown family.

Taylor asked if the three had tried to stop the others.

Miller said she and Morgan told the others "not to do this."

However, nothing in their statements to law enforcement suggests any of them encouraged the others to stop.

"This is a terrible tragedy. It is completely senseless. This man was minding his own business," Judge Taylor said.

Taylor denied the request from media to have television and still cameras in court during the hearing.

A different judge allowed cameras to record the plea and sentencing hearing of the first three defendants.