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HARRISVILLE, Weber County — A Utah couple seeking a felony charge over their teenage son’s death in an auto-pedestrian crash learned this week they had lost their latest legal battle, but they’re turning to a lawmaker for help. The lawmaker has his own idea for a tougher texting- while-driving law: a “three-strikes” rule.
Mike and Jen Hallett learned in a letter Thursday that the Utah Attorney General’s Office concurred with a Weber County Attorney’s Office decision to not file a “manslaughter, automobile homicide, or negligent homicide” charge against the driver for the death of their son.
Devereaux Hallett was on his bicycle July 8 and was crossing Wall Avenue at North Street in a crosswalk when Harrisville police said driver Jeff Hanes ran a red light and struck him.
Hanes was charged with use of a handheld device to text or email while operating a vehicle, a class B misdemeanor, and a traffic control signal violation, a class C misdemeanor.
“After careful consideration of the facts and our assessment of the screening decision made by Weber County Attorney Office, we conclude that there is not a reasonable likelihood of conviction for any of the above- described criminal charges,” the letter from assistant attorney general Scott Reed stated.
“There is a distinct and significant factual question regarding whether the state could prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the conduct of “texting while driving” occurred during or simultaneous to the collision which caused Dev Hallett’s death,” the letter read. “There is also a substantial question of fact as to whether Hanes' conduct would meet the requirements of 'criminal negligence' under current Utah law."
Devereaux’s stepmother, Jen Hallett, expressed disappointment in the decision Friday.
“I was appalled — disgusted, disheartened and appalled,” she said. “I thought for sure that, you know, we would come with some sort of felony charge,” she said.
Hallett is now hoping lawmakers may be able to come up with a fix to current law to create tougher punishments for drivers who text behind the wheel and leave people injured or dead.
The couple approached Rep. Dixon Pitcher, R-Ogden, about the possibility of legislative action.
“This was a fatality that didn’t need to happen,” Pitcher said.
Pitcher said he voted for and believes in the recently enacted Utah law that curtails — with only a few exceptions — the right of drivers to manipulate their phones behind the wheel.
“We’re about a month into it,” he said. “We’ll find this actually is going to work and if it doesn’t, we can revisit like we always do.”
The Utah Highway Patrol took a largely educational approach to the new cellphone law in its first month. Numbers supplied to KSL showed troopers stopped 168 drivers in that month period, handing out 18 citations and 150 warnings.
Pitcher said he is open to looking at the Halletts’ concerns, and he is expressing interest in the idea of a “three-strikes” law, in which drivers — after the third ticket for texting and driving — would have their licenses suspended for 30 days.
“Every single day we see people picking up their phones — even with the law in place,” Pitcher said. “So we might have to do something more than what we’re doing right now.”
Jen Hallett said she plans to continue to fight for justice for her son and for potential new legislation.
Hanes has pleaded not guilty to the misdemeanor charges facing him.
He is next due in court Wednesday.
