Charge dismissed against man accused of leaving scene of girlfriend's fatal accident

Published: Tuesday, November 23, 2010, 5:45 AM

A Baldwin Circuit judge last week dismissed a?charge against a man accused of leaving the scene of an accident which killed his girlfriend last year.

Alfred Lee Banks pleaded guilty to driving under the influence in the August 2009 incident.

Lisa Taylor of Spanish Fort died after being struck by a passing car on Stagecoach Road. According to the Baldwin County Sheriff’s Office, Banks, Taylor and Taylor’s son were driving back to their home off Stagecoach Road when the couple began to argue and Taylor exited Banks’ truck while it was still moving. The boy got out immediately after his mother and Banks drove away. Taylor was then stuck and killed by a sedan.

In its case, the state argued that the 54-year-old Banks, who now lives in Daphne, knew Taylor was injured when she exited the truck and he was bound by law to stop and help, according to Assistant District Attorney Brant Richerson.

"The state presented evidence in the trial, including eyewitness testimony" that supported both counts of the indictment, Richerson said Monday in an e-mail. "If Mr. Banks had stopped to render aid, he could have prevented Ms. Taylor’s death."

Defense attorney Pascal Bruijn said the testimony of Taylor’s son changed at trial, indicating that Banks ran over Taylor. Following the accident, the boy told investigators he believed the truck hit his mother. But in an audio recording of an interview by an investigator with the Sheriff’s Office, Bruijn said the boy indicated that Banks had no knowledge that Taylor was injured when he left the scene.

After the state’s evidence, Bruijn said he asked Judge Charles Partin for the dismissal on the basis that his client was not required to stop and render assistance because he was unaware Taylor had been injured.

"We didn’t even put on a defense," he said.

Richerson said the victim’s son testified to what he remembered happening. "It is the state’s position that it should have been obvious to Alfred Banks that Ms. Taylor was injured when she exited a moving vehicle that he was driving."

On the DUI charge, Banks received the maximum 12-month sentence along with a fine of $2,100 and court costs and fees, according to his attorney. He received credit for the 14 months he served awaiting trial, Bruijn said.

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