Maryland Conviction in Fatal Crash Reversed on Insurance Technicality

A West Virginia woman sentenced to a year in jail for a crash that killed a 5-year-old girl has had her conviction reversed because Maryland has no criminal penalty for drivers of uninsured, out-of-state vehicles.

The Herald-Mail reports that Washington County Circuit Judge Donald Beachley granted a defense motion for acquittal Thursday in Hagerstown. The decision reverses Karen See’s conviction last year for knowingly driving without insurance.

Beachley says Maryland law does not provide for a criminal penalty if a driver operates an uninsured vehicle registered in another state.

According to Maryland’s Department of Transportation Motor Vehicle Administration website, in state uninsured vehicle owners may lose their license plates and vehicle registration privileges, face penalty and other fees, as well as a fine of up to $1000 and/or a one year prison sentence.

See, of Harpers Ferry, West Virginia, was charged after her SUV rear-ended a stopped car in which 5-year-old Bryer Hendricks was riding in January 2015.

See pleaded guilty last year to two traffic violations and was fined $410. She spent 77 days in jail prior to the acquittal.