Plea negotiations between the state and Billy Lane’s lawyers could lead to a resolution in the motorcycle designer’s DUI manslaughter case as early as next week, his attorney said.
The announcement of the plea comes days before Lane was scheduled to go to trial Monday.
“I can’t talk about the details right now because we have a couple minor details that are up in the air,” lawyer Greg Eisenmenger stated on Thursday.
He said he hopes to receive confirmation on those details from prosecutors by today and anticipates Lane would enter the plea next week.
Lane, 38, was charged two years ago with one count of DUI manslaughter in connection with a Labor Day 2006 traffic accident in which 56-year-old Sebastian Inlet park ranger Gerald Morelock died.
Police said Lane’s blood-alcohol level was more than twice the legal limit when he crossed a double yellow line to pass several cars near Melbourne Beach, striking Morelock’s motorcycle head-on.
In light of ongoing legal wrangling over the permissibility of blood evidence at trial, prosecutors in late December added an alternative charge of vehicular homicide, which requires the state to prove Lane was driving recklessly but does not include the drug or alcohol element needed to prove DUI manslaughter.
Both charges are second-degree felonies, punishable by up to 15 years in prison.
Eisenmenger said the amended charge factored into Lane’s decision to consider a plea agreement, and that any other factors would “become more clear” in court.
“We’re in agreement on all the major points,” Eisenmenger said of his discussions with the state. “We’re 99 percent there but we’re not 100 percent there. We’re close enough that the court felt it was appropriate to take it off the trial docket and we’re close enough that we’re confident we’ll get to a plea.”
Prosecutor Tom Brown said 95 percent or more of his office’s cases are resolved through pleas, and his office treats this case like any other.
Among the factors to be considered are state sentencing guidelines, the facts of the case and input from the victim’s family, which Brown said is always considered during plea discussions and before an offer is made.
“We’ve had plea discussions on this case from the beginning,” Brown said. “We’ve never not been amenable to reaching a resolution. . . and when you get close to trial, discussions become much more serious.”
Byron Morelock, the victim’s brother, said he is not opposed to a plea deal.
“Revenge is nothing. I’ve got to take myself out of the picture,” he said. “I just know my brother would want something positive out of this thing. Gerry was a sweet guy and he never wanted to hurt anybody and even when someone would hurt him . . . he’d say ‘Don’t worry about it.’”
Morelock’s family, Lane and DaimlerChrysler, which provided Lane with the truck he was driving for promotional purposes, reached an undisclosed out-of-court settlement on a wrongful death suit in July 2007.
A civil suit filed against Lane and DaimlerChrysler in May by Lane’s passenger, Erin Derrick, seeks unspecified damages for permanent injuries she said have left her neither able to work nor to pay off mounting medical bills. That case is still pending.
This is a republished article.
California Motorcycle Accident Lawyer
Here are some of the new laws which went effect on January 1, 2009:
The San Bernardino Sun Reported that a Southern California Motorcycle Rider, Anthony “Taz” Williams was killed while riding his motorcycle to work in San Bernardino, when a 74 year old man named Gregory Martinez turned left in front of him. The 74 year old man claimed the sun was in his eyes as the excuse for his failure to ensure that there was no oncoming traffic before he made his turn. Mr. Martinez was allowed to leave the scene of the accident pending an investigation. The article stated that the San Bernardino Police stated that Mr. Williams could have avoided the accident had he used “perfect braking.” The article is no longer available online from what I can tell.
First off this article is not about regular yahoo personal injury lawyers who advertise or pawn themselves off as being biker lawyers or motorcycle accident lawyers, when they are nothing more then garden variety personal injury lawyers. This article is about the use of the term lawyer as opposed to attorney.
I wrote an article about a California Superior Court ruling which found in favor of a man who has been challenging California’s mandatory helmet laws. 
As a biker lawyer, I handle many motorcycle injury accident cases. I also give many free consultations for bikers and motorcyclist who are injured in motorcycle accident cases.
I recently watched a video report from a local TV news channel in San Diego, that you can see by 
I recently read an article about a guy who had his motorcycle stolen, and then saw a guy riding it right next him while he was in his car. You can read the article by 
Florida is using a civil seizure law in an effort to combat speeding sport motorcycle riders. As stated in an article that 
******UPDATE 5/18/2007, THE BELOW CASE HAS BEEN OVERRULED BY THE STATE APPEALS COURT IN FAVOR OF THE CHP. 
The present Statute of Limitations for filing a lawsuit for personal injuries related to your motorcycle accident in the State of California is two (2) years from the date of the accident. If you do not file a lawsuit within two (2) years, you lose your right to sue! If any of the parties to the accident is a governmental entity such as county vans and vehicles, a claim must be filed with the entity within 6 months from the date of the accident. If the entity rejects the claim, they must then be sued within one (1) year from the date of the accident.
