Published: August 26, 2008 10:58 pm         

Pa. man found not guilty in fatal accident

SUMMERSVILLE — A Pennsylvania truck driver has been cleared of charges in an accident on U.S. 19 in Nicholas County 18 months ago that claimed the life of a Fayette County man.

In a bench trial before Nicholas Circuit Judge Gary Johnson, Richard Cyphert, 34, of Knox, Pa., was found not guilty of a misdemeanor charge of failure to maintain control of his vehicle.

Earlier, Johnson had granted a motion by special prosecutor Tom MacAulay of Raleigh County to dismiss a charge of negligent homicide.

Johnson ruled at the conclusion of the bench trial that there was no evidence Cyphert had driven his tractor-trailer in a reckless manner.

The accident occurred Feb. 27, 2007, near Mount Lookout. Police said Tommy F. Ramsey Jr., 30, of Edmond, driving a pickup truck, was following a tractor-trailer driven by his cousin, Eddie Orval Ramsey Jr., 26, of Edmond.

Police said Eddie Ramsey’s tractor-trailer had experienced mechanical problems earlier and that both he and his cousin were traveling south on U.S. 19 at about 50 mph when Tommy Ramsey’s pickup truck was struck in the rear by Cyphert’s tractor-trailer, pushing the pickup into the back of Eddie Ramsey’s tractor-trailer. Tommy Ramsey was killed in the accident.

A grand jury convened by MacAulay indicted Cyphert on the charges last winter. MacAulay was assigned to the case after Ramsey’s family persisted in pursuing charges against Cyphert. Nicholas Prosecutor Mark Hudnall declined to present the matter to a grand jury, stating he did not believe there was enough evidence to support a conviction.

MacAulay moved to dismiss the negligent homicide charge based on an independent professional engineering report that concluded there was no evidence to prove Cyphert was speeding in a 65 mph zone at the time of the accident or that he acted in a way that showed reckless disregard for the safety of others.

During the bench trial, there was testimony that Cyphert had no early warning of a slowing-moving vehicle in his lane of traffic.