Driver in deadly crash will not face felony charges
MARION – The driver of a car thought to have caused a crash in which three Marion residents died July 14 will not face felony charges, Marion County Prosecutor Brent Yager said Tuesday.
Officials said Larry F. Dennison Jr., 43, was not under the influence of alcohol or drugs when the 2003 Ford Focus he was driving south on Delaware Avenue slammed into a 1994 Buick LeSabre. The occupants of the Buick — Johanna M. Sisson, 45; Edwin Sisson, 50; and Amanda Sisson, 27, all of Marion — died in the fiery crash at 3:25 p.m. on Delaware Avenue just north of Executive Drive.
Yager said a jury would have to believe Dennison was under the influence to convict him of a second-degree felony charge of aggravated vehicular homicide. The prosecutor also did not believe evidence supported Dennison, who has epilepsy, acted recklessly, an element needed to secure a conviction on a third-degree felony charge of aggravated vehicular homicide.
He said he provided a file of the case to Marion City Law Director Mark Russell, who said: “It’s reasonably expected there will be filing of misdemeanor charges once we receive the files from the felony prosecutor.”
Russel said he’s received the initial files but is waiting for supplements before determining any charge he may pursue. He said the charges he is considering are vehicular homicide, a first-degree misdemeanor punishable by up to 180 days in jail and a $1,000 fine, and vehicular manslaughter, a second-degree misdemeanor punishable by up to 90 days in jail and a $750 fine.
“The only way to make a felony is to show the person was under the influence of something,” Yager said. “There’s absolutely no evidence he was under the influence of any type of drug or alcohol. He voluntarily took a blood test. Again, there were no drugs or alcohol in his system.”
Yager said he spoke with one of Dennison’s physicians, who confirmed he’d cleared Dennison to drive, adding that Dennison was using a vagus nerve stimulator to assist his ability to drive and it was working properly.
“He is epileptic, but there is no way to tell if he had a seizure or not,” Yager said. “The doctor indicated he had been doing well. ... He got a letter from his doctor to the (Bureau of Motor Vehicles) to clear his driving, so it’s hard for me to says he’s acting recklessly when a medical commission (says he can drive).”
Dennison had reported blacking out while driving in two of three previous crashes and had his license reinstated a few weeks before the fatal crash, officials reported. He also has had several restricted licenses since 2009 because of a medical condition, according to the Ohio BMV.
According to Ohio State Highway Patrol reports, Dennison told troopers he lost some memory while driving before crashes in 2009 and 2013. Troopers recommended the BMV examine his license after the crashes.
A physician told Dennison he could not drive in December 2013, but he was cleared to drive again by a doctor on May 27, 2014. His license was suspended during part of that time, from Nov. 13, 2013, to June 6, 2014.
“I can’t say if he had a seizure or not,” Yager said. “It was a terrible, horrific act, situation, but we still have to deal with what the statutes say and really try to keep our emotions out of it.”
He said his decision to determine the charges that would be pursued took 10 months in part because his office didn’t receive the final report from the patrol until about February or March, because of extensive examination of medical records, and because he was waiting for information to be obtained from Dennison’s car’s “black box” in Mexico, “and we really didn’t gain anything from that.”
The black box did not provide sufficient information regarding the speed of Dennison’s car, he said, and the patrol indicated additional reconstruction of the crash likely would indicate he was driving the speed limit.
“It’s a difficult case,” he said. “Again, we can’t let our emotions make our decision for us. It’s a tough decision, but at the end of the day I think I did what I had to do.”
Russell said he expected to file charges in about two weeks.
jjarvis@marionstar.com
740-375-5154
Twitter: @jmwjarvis