Ex-prosecutor found not guilty in fatal crash

A former Clark County prosecutor found not guilty Thursday of leaving the scene of a crash that killed a 37-year-old Springfield Township  man said he felt vindicated by the verdict.

Prosecutors charged James A. Berry, 81, with failure to stop after he struck and killed James E. Pierce at about 10 p.m. May 4 minutes after he stumbled onto the southbound lane of Springfield-Xenia Road. Berry had just returned to Springfield from a party in Columbus and continued his drive home, he testified, because he thought he hit a pothole.

Visiting, retired Montgomery County Common Pleas Judge John W. Kessler announced his decision after two days of testimony. 

Berry told News Center 7 the case wouldn't have gone to trial had he not been a former prosecutor. His family declined comment.

Franklin County Assistant Prosecutor Keith McGrath said Berry was required by law to stop and call police after the crash.

“If he was aware of a collision, the law says you need to call the police, whether it’s a person or property,” McGrath said.

Defense attorneys David E. Smith and Darnell E. Carter said Berry did the right thing by contacting authorities the next day.

Berry testified he didn’t know he hit Pierce until about 6 a.m. when he found human tissue on his damaged four-door Honda Accord and read in the Springfield News-Sun that a man had been killed in a hit-skip crash across from the Wayside Tavern, 2288 S. Yellow Springs St.

Berry said he drove to the crash scene, returned home, tried to eat breakfast and then called two attorneys, reaching Richard Mayhall, who then contacted county Prosecutor Andy Wilson.