Frankfort,KY : Trask pleads to a reduced charge in crash on June, Thursday 8th 2017
Originally charged with murder following a car crash in which his brother died, Michael Trask pleaded guilty to second-degree manslaughter in Henry County Circuit Court June 8.
On May 25, 2016, Trask, then 27, and his brother, Heathe Trask, 26, were both injured when the vehicle driven by Michael Trask left Highway 22 near Bethlehem and struck a tree, according to Kentucky State Police (KSP). Both men were taken by helicopter to University of Louisville Hospital where Heathe Trask died.
Police arrested Michael Trask July 5 after KSP completed the accident reconstruction report and received the results of the toxicology test. The investigation found two aggravating factors in the wreck — the vehicle’s speed and evidence of alcohol usage — which led to the murder charge, Kentucky State Police Post 5 spokesman, Trooper Josh Lawson, said.
“The toxicology reports came back showing he had a blood alcohol level consistent with being impaired and the accident reconstruction estimated his speed at over 80 miles per hour at the time of the accident,” he said. “It would be considered extremely reckless to go that speed on that road in the area where the crash occurred.”
A Henry County Grand Jury chose to indict Michael Trask on the charge of second-degree manslaughter in October.
In pleading guilty, Trask was asked what happened the night his brother died.
“Me and my bother left the house one night to go to Eminence, I guess to go get something to eat, and was coming out of Bethlehem to Pleasureville,” Trask told Henry County Circuit Court Judge Karen Conrad. “The steering linkage came undone, and me and him both had been drinking that night and he was killed in the wreck.”
At that point Commonwealth Attorney Courtney Baxter interjected that the vehicle had not been inspected for a malfunction, but that Trask’s blood alcohol level at the time indicated that “he was driving under the influence and it resulted in the death of his brother.”
According to the sentencing recommendation from the commonwealth attorney, Trask will be sentenced to 10 years, with 90 days to serve. If Trask is granted shock probation, which the defense did not oppose, his sentence will be probated for five years. Baxter explained the rationale behind the sentence to Conrad.
“He did serve time from July to about December, and it is also the wishes of family who lost their other son as a result of this accident,” Baxter said. “That’s the reason we are taking the position we are, based on these circumstances.”
Court officers also noted that since Trask had been released from jail on a bond posted by his father, he had been compliant with all the requirements of monitored conditional release, and had submitted clean drug and alcohol screens.
Other conditions of Trask’s sentence include attending and completing a court-approved substance abuse program; following all conditions of probation; incurring no new offenses or probation violations; and submitting no missed, diluted, refused or positive drug or alcohol screens.
Trask will be formally sentenced on Aug. 10.
Source :
Trask pleads to a reduced charge in crash