The 17-year-old son of an Iowa Hawkeyes coach has been found guilty in a crash that killed a pedestrian in May, according to court documents.
Iowa Basketball Coach Fran McCaffery’s son Jonathan, who goes by Jack, was cited in connection with a car vs. pedestrian crash that killed a National Guardsman. Court records electronically filed on Tuesday show he was found guilty of failing to yield to a pedestrian.
The fatal crash
On May 22, McCaffery was driving in the left westbound lane on Melrose Avenue in Iowa City, with a number of cars in the right westbound lane stopped at the intersection of Melrose Avenue and Kennedy Parkway, court documents show.
Court documents say McCaffery struck pedestrian Corey Hite, who came from in front of the stopped cars into his lane within the crosswalk at the intersection.
Hite, who was thrown into the air, “ultimately died of the injuries he received,” court documents say.
The state argued that McCaffery was guilty “because the statute is a public-welfare offense and does not include any intent requirement.” McCaffery’s counsel argued that “there was some contributory negligence by Mr. Hite which would negate criminal responsibility by Mr. McCaffery beyond a reasonable doubt.”
A judge determined “McCaffery is guilty under either legal theory,” documents say.
Witnesses testify
Witnesses testified they saw Hite at the crosswalk jogging in place before he was struck by McCaffery. “In various phrases, they all testified that Mr. Hite crossed in front of the stopped vehicles before entering the left-hand lane of traffic,” according to court documents.
Hite ended up about 100 feet from the crosswalk after he was hit, according to the testimony of an officer. A lens in his sunglasses landed 15 feet from the crosswalk and a second 27 feet from the crosswalk.
“The front tires of Mr. McCaffery’s vehicle stopped about 80 feet from the crosswalk. There was substantial damage to the front hood and windshield of Mr. McCaffery’s vehicle,” documents show.
In the documents, the judge found that “there is no intent requirement for a person to be found in violation of the statute.”
Hite “was lawfully within that crosswalk,” the court says in documents. “The court finds there were two warning signs advising Mr. McCaffery that a pedestrian crosswalk was ahead” and that he was familiar with the intersection “as he had driven in that area several times previously.”
Hite was not visible to McCaffery until he appeared in front of the line of stopped vehicles. “The Court finds that Mr. McCaffery could not stop or avoid striking Mr. Hite once he appeared in Mr. McCaffery’s lane of the road,” according to documents. “However, the Court does not find any evidence that Mr. Hite engaged in any affirmative act to relinquish his right of way within the crosswalk.”
The judge writes that “a reasonable person approaching a marked pedestrian crosswalk with an obscured view of part of the crosswalk should slow down and/or stop to ensure that there was no pedestrian or other entity entering the driver’s lane of traffic,” the judge writes in his decision.
“Mr. McCaffery failed to meet the requirements of a reasonable driver in such a situation,” the judge writes.
A sentencing hearing is set for Oct. 13 in Johnson County Court, court records say.
