Hearing set for next month in fatal wrong-way accident
By Cameron Montemayor
A preliminary hearing for a St. Joseph woman charged with first-degree involuntary manslaughter has been scheduled for Sept. 19 in front of Associate Circuit Judge Rebecca Spencer.
Buchanan County court filings show Katherine Deweese was arraigned last week and released on her own recognizance after pleading not guilty to the charge.
Deweese, 47, of St. Joseph, is charged with first-degree involuntary manslaughter — a Class C felony — in connection with a fatal wrong-way crash that killed 33-year-old motorcyclist Ryan Coffman as he exited Interstate 229 on the morning of May 17.
In Missouri, a Class C felony charge for first-degree involuntary manslaughter is punishable by up to 7 years in prison and a fine of up to $5,000.
Deweese will appear in court at 1:30 p.m. on Thursday, Sept. 19, in the Fifth Judicial Circuit. St. Joseph attorney Mark H. Wissehr will represent her.
Coffman was struck midway through the Edmond Street exit ramp head-on by a Honda CRV going in the wrong direction and ejected from his motorcycle at about 5 a.m. Coffman was taken to Mosaic Life Care with life-threatening injuries and later pronounced dead, a result of blunt-force trauma to the head.
The filing of the charge on Aug. 20 by the Buchanan County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office came just over three months from when the crash occurred.
According to a probable cause statement, an odor of an intoxicant was noticed coming from Deweese at the scene of the crash. A preliminary breath sample showed her blood alcohol was at 0.065%. Deweese refused to consent to a blood draw at the law enforcement center. A search warrant was requested and granted and blood was drawn at 7:36 a.m.
The Missouri State Highway Patrol Crime Lab returned the toxicology report showing Deweese’s reporting limit of ethanol was 0.010%. The statement also says that without being asked, Deweese said she was distracted because she was arguing with her passenger.
After the crash occurred, Deweese remained at the scene and was not taken into custody. At the time of the incident, police said there was no direct evidence showing the driver had to be arrested, as results from the driver’s blood test and the car’s event data recorder would be needed to determine appropriate charges.
