KALAMAZOO, Mich. -- A driver who was on drugs when his pickup crashed into a pack of bicyclists, killing five, was convicted of second-degree murder Tuesday in southwestern Michigan.
Charles Pickett's trial lasted just a few days in Kalamazoo County. There was no dispute that he had swallowed painkillers and other drugs before driving, although his lawyers argued that murder charges were excessive. He now faces up to life in prison at his sentencing June 11.
The 52-year-old's truck plowed into a pack of bicyclists on a rural road in Cooper Township, 140 miles west of Detroit, in June 2016. Nine people were hit, including five who died from their injuries.
Assistant prosecutor Michael Kanaby told jurors that a driver on drugs is no different from the "guy at the bar who's pounding down alcohol."
Defense attorney Keith Turpel said Pickett didn't know how the drugs would affect his driving.
"We're not saying he's innocent as a newborn babe. He did things he shouldn't have done that day," Turpel said in his closing argument to jurors.
The dead were three women and two men, ages 42 to 74.
A Section on 05/02/2018