Not guilty verdict in fatal accident

The Minnesota woman charged in a fatal car accident that led to the death of local Dominic Gibson has been found not guilty of homicide by vehicle in a June 1 decision issued by Park County Circuit Court Judge Joey Darrah.

"The court, through this decision, does not minimize the consequences of the defendant's actions," Darrah said. "[But] the failure to yield, standing alone, however, does not warrant a conviction."

The decision came three weeks after Shobhana Raghavendra Rao, 63, faced a one day bench trial May 10.

Rao had initially been charged in October of last year stemming from an Aug. 2, 2022, motor vehicle crash in which she turned left from Meeteetse Highway onto Greybull Highway, colliding with Gibson who was traveling eastbound on a motorcycle. Gibson succumbed to his injuries on Aug. 3, 2022.

"The pertinent facts in this case are not in dispute," Darrah said. "The defendant made a left turn at an intersection and caused the crash with a motorcycle that clearly had the right of way."

But Darrah said that to be convicted of homicide by vehicle, a person has to be operating a vehicle in a criminally negligent manner, causing the death of another.

To be found criminally negligent, a person performs a "gross deviation from the standard of care" that a reasonable person would exercise, Darrah said.

A gross deviation occurs when a person fails to perceive there is a "substantial and unjustifiable risk" resulting from their actions, he said.

Darrah found the crash was the cause of Gibson's death, but that Rao had not performed a gross deviation of care and was not criminally negligent but rather had committed civil negligence.

Darrah said that under Wyoming law, Rao had a duty to stop and yield the right of way to any vehicle in the intersection, but her failure to do so did not constitute a gross deviation of care.

"The evidence fails to reveal that the defendant has engaged in any way in culpable risk taking," he said.

Such risks that would be considered gross deviation of care, Darrah said, include dangerous speeding, failure to stop, weaving aggressively in and out of traffic, driving while fatigued, erratic driving, failure to obey traffic signals, driving impaired or trying to beat Gibson through the intersection.

Darrah said gross deviation has to be "substantially more" than "everyday minimal" violation of a traffic statute.

"She did not see Mr. Gibson until it was too late," he said.

Darrah agreed with testimony that neither the light pole at that intersection nor highway signage impeded her view of traffic before the crash.

He also agreed with Wyoming Highway Patrol Trooper Ryan Logan's testimony regarding eyewash phenomenon in which smaller objects like motorcycles can get washed out as a driver focuses on larger objects on the road.

"The statement that the defendant did not see Gibson and he just appeared out of nowhere is not uncommon in crashes involving motorcycles," Darrah said. "Trooper Logan agreed that even if the driver thought they were doing everything right, they could still miss a smaller object on the road."

Darrah determined the cause of the crash was human error as Rao failed to observe Gibson's motorcycle when she pulled onto the highway and when she failed to yield the right of way to cross traffic.

"An inattention or mistake in judgment, even if it results in the death of another, is not criminal unless the quality of the act makes it so," he said.

Darrah would not allow comments or questions following his reading of his decision, but told attendees he was "mindful that the result of this collision was disastrous, capable of giving rise to a fully understandable outrage in a portion of the community grieving the results of the death." But his decision could not be "guided by emotion, passion or sympathy.

"The court has an obligation to strictly apply the law to the facts presented."

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