Dunbar man’s homicide by vehicle sentencing postponed to October, lawyer to challenge crime statute
The scheduled sentencing for a Dunbar man for a five-year-old homicide-by-vehicle charge has been postponed so the defense can challenge the constitutionality of one of the charges.
Prior to Wednesday afternoon’s sentencing for Ethan Kenney, 23, Kenney’s attorney, Sam Davis, requested a 60-day postponement to prepare an argument on the charge of accidents involving death or personal injury, a second-degree felony to which Kenney pleaded guilty in May in the death of Catherine “Cat” Healy, 19, of Acme.
Davis said after reviewing the statute for the crime of accidents involving death or personal injury and based on higher court decisions, he believes language in the statute concerning mandatory sentences is unconstitutional.
The language of the statue reads, “If the victim dies, any person violating subsection (a) commits a felony of the second degree, and the sentencing court shall order the person to serve a minimum term of imprisonment of not less than three years and a mandatory minimum fine of $2,500, notwithstanding any other provision of law.”
On June 9, 2013, Healy died from traumatic brain injuries following a crash on Ridge Boulevard in Dunbar Township. She was the passenger in Kenney’s vehicle. Kenney was charged in the case seven months later.
Police charged Kenney hit a guardrail, and then fled the scene after emergency medical personnel arrived, but before police arrived. He was located a short time later.
Davis said a U.S. Supreme Court decision on mandatory sentences held that facts which increase the mandatory minimum sentence are an element of the offense which must be submitted to the jury and found beyond a reasonable doubt.
Davis added that if Kenney is sentenced on accidents involving death and personal injury, it would also be a violation of case law, specifically Commonwealth v. Hopkins where the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania ruled a statute in the crimes code that imposed a mandatory minimum sentence of two years in prison for a delivering drugs near a school was unconstitutional in light of the U.S. Supreme Court ruling.
Fayette County District Attorney Rich Bower said he believes the statute is constitutional and doesn’t like the idea of continuing the sentencing with many arriving out of state for Wednesday’s proceeding, but said his hands are tied with the issue.
Bower added that he spoke to Healy’s family and said the family understood the reason for the postponement.
Fayette County Judge Steve Leskinen continued the sentencing hearing for 2:30 p.m. Oct. 30 and instructed Davis to file a brief for his challenge, and a hearing might be scheduled prior to sentencing.
The matter had been set for trial in 2015, but a motion from Davis halted proceedings.
Davis asked to inspect Kenney’s truck, and it was eventually determined the vehicle was sent to a scrapyard. That was after prosecutors at the time had the chance to inspect it, but before the defense did.
That resulted in the suppression of evidence relating to the inspection of the truck, prompting an appeal of the decision and additional court hearings over the ensuing years.
Along with the guilty plea for accidents involving death or personal injury, Kenney, 23, also pleaded guilty to homicide by vehicle and various traffic citations.
As part of the plea in May, prosecutors dismissed charges of homicide by vehicle while driving under the influence, driving under the influence and citations related to alleged drinking.
He’s free on $50,000 unsecured bond.
Healy, who graduated from Connellsville Area High School in 2011, played volleyball at the school and was also a member of the volleyball team at Penn State Erie, The Behrend College, where she was heading into her junior year.
After Healy’s death, regulation-size sand volleyball courts at Mountz Creek Park in Connellsville were opened and named “Cat’s Courts” in her honor.