State v. Lance

This is an appeal by the state from the dismissal of an indictment charging two counts of manslaughter in the second degree and one count of failure to perform duties of a driver involved in an accident. The trial court dismissed the indictment following a showing by defendant, who claimed that the cause of the accident was complete brake failure, that the state, after testing the brakes, had effectively eliminated the possibility of proving such failure by negligently allowing the brake parts to become rusted and corroded beyond the point that they could be retested by defendant’s expert.

The…