Conviction In Fatal Crash Reversed On Insurance Technicality

HAGERSTOWN, Md. (AP) -- 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.

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.

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