Kentuckyy woman to face charges in death

Published 12:00 am Wednesday, January 26, 2000

Dorothy Bryan, 26, pleaded not guilty during her arraignment in front of Judge C.

Wednesday, January 26, 2000

Dorothy Bryan, 26, pleaded not guilty during her arraignment in front of Judge C. David Hagerman in Boyd County Circuit Court Jan. 21. She faces the charge of "wantonly operating a motor vehicle under circumstances manifesting an extreme indifference to the value of human life, thereby creating a grave risk of death to another person, and thereby causing the death of Albert Tomondi."

Mrs. Bryan faces these charges as a result of a late November accident, in which her vehicle, a 1989 Chevrolet Celebrity, hit that of the late Albert J. Tomondi, 68, who died from sustained injuries three days later in Cabell Huntington Hospital in Huntington, W.Va. Mrs. Bryan allegedly was driving the wrong way on northbound 15th Street in Ashland, Ky., when the accident occurred, according to police reports.

The charge could result in a possible sentence of 20 years to life in prison if Mrs. Bryan is found guilty, said Stewart Schneider, commonwealth’s attorney for the 32nd Judicial Circuit of Kentucky.

"We’ve prosecuted people for this before," Schneider said. "We’ve charged people with some form of homicide when a death results after driving while impaired. The allegation was that she was intoxicated at the time."

Currently, Mrs. Bryan resides in the Boyd County Detention Center. Her bond was set at $100,000 at an earlier hearing.

Despite a motion by Mrs. Bryan’s defense attorney, Richard Hughes, Hagerman refused to lower the bond at Friday’s arraignment.

"I just felt that was appropriate," Hagerman said.

Bond is set by the judge who must consider the seriousness of an offense, among other things, Schneider said.

Hughes submitted a request to the court to allow Mrs. Bryan to post a 10 percent bond Jan. 20.

The commonwealth opposed this, deeming Mrs. Bryan a flight risk based on testimony in the police accident report, according to the submitted motions.

"Two of the witnesses stated that Ms. Bryan attempted to leave the scene after the accident occurred. But the witness held her at the scene," according to the commonwealth’s response to the motion that included comments from Ashland, Ky., police officer Leisha Branham on Nov. 29.

Mrs. Bryan will be tried in Boyd County Circuit Court April 25 before a jury of her peers, Hagerman said.

"The next thing that will happen is that there will be some discovery, as there is in all cases," he said. "The jury trial will start that morning (Jan. 25)."