Driver convicted in fatal DUI case
Karen Hyland said she was glad a jury found Michael Geyer guilty of all charges filed against him in the March 26, 2003, drunken driving accident that claimed the life of her only son, Robert Hyland Jr., but it can’t erase her pain or bring him back. A Fayette County jury deliberated for about an hour Thursday morning before returning with guilty verdicts on charges of homicide by vehicle while driving under the influence, aggravated assault by vehicle while driving under the influence, homicide by vehicle and DUI.
Judge Gerald R. Solomon scheduled sentencing for Jan. 13 at 8:30 a.m. Solomon revoked Geyer’s bond and ordered him to be held in the Fayette County Prison.
The judge also found Geyer guilty of summary charges that state police filed in the case.
Geyer, 35, of Ruffsdale, glanced toward the jury as a deputy sheriff escorted him from the courtroom in handcuffs.
The trial for Geyer started Tuesday when witnesses testified he was speeding when he rear-ended a truck driven by Robert Hyland Jr., 24, who was stopped at a red light on Route 119 near Warehouse Grocery in Bullskin Township.
Police said Geyer had a blood-alcohol content of .16 percent, which is above the state’s legal limit, and was traveling 64 mph in a 55-mph zone.
Comforting from her husband and son’s father, Robert Hyland, could not prevent Karen Hyland from crying as the charges and verdicts were individually read. Her tears continued as she discussed the case after court was adjourned.
She thanked the jury for finding Geyer guilty of all the charges and that it was not fair that Geyer was free on bail while the case was being adjudicated.
“It’s just been too hard,” she said of the 21 months between the time of the incident and Thursday.
She mentioned a plea bargain offer, which added to the delay in getting the case to court.
Last December, Geyer pleaded guilty to homicide by vehicle while DUI in exchange for a three-to-six-year prison sentence. But a judge refused to sentence Geyer in accordance with the plea bargain, and the trial was scheduled.
Karen Hyland said she feels bad for Geyer’s family, “but they can visit him in jail. They have seven grandkids.”
She said she used to ask herself, “‘Why did God do this?’ God didn’t do this – Geyer did.”
Geyer made no effort to help free her son from his wrecked truck, she said, adding that she hopes he receives the maximum prison sentence.
She said she did not believe Geyer when he testified that he couldn’t remember anything about what happened that day.
Despite the guilty verdict, she said justice could never be served in the case because it can’t bring her son back.
“I cry every day. I’ll cry for the rest of my life. He was my gift from God,” Karen Hyland said.