Judge in Lawrence upholds sentence in traffic deaths
A Douglas County judge has upheld the conviction and sentence of a Washington woman who killed two highway workers while driving south of Lawrence five years ago.
The Associated Pres reports District Judge Paula Martin ruled earlier this month that Ramona Morgan's court-appointed attorney committed some errors, but nothing bad enough to affect the jury's decision.
Morgan, from Chewalah, Wash., had argued she received ineffective counsel and that her 26-year sentence was excessive.
Witnesses testified at Morgan's 2008 trial that she drove around a pilot car twice in a U.S. 59 work zone on Sept. 11, 2007, and the second time struck and killed two workers, 24-year-old Rolland Griffith of El Dorado and 30-year-old Ty Korte of Seneca. Another El Dorado resident, Curtis Delzell, was injured at the construction site.
Law enforcement officers had to puncture her pickup truck's tires after a chase to get her to stop.
Morgan's earliest possible parole date is 2030.
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