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<DIV dir=ltr align=left><FONT face=Tahoma size=2><B>Subject:</B> NC: Civil Trial
Begins RE: Hit and Run That Killed Seeing Eye Dog...<BR></FONT><BR></DIV>
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<P><BR><A
href="http://www.heraldsun.com/resources/printfriendly.cfm?StoryID=902090&pageid=10">http://www.heraldsu<WBR>n.com/resources/<WBR>printfriendly.<WBR>cfm?StoryID=<WBR>902090&pageid=<WBR>10</A><BR><BR>Civil
trial will focus on identifying driver<BR><BR>By Beth Velliquette : The
Herald-Sun<BR><A
href="mailto:bvelliquette%40heraldsun.com">bvelliquette@<WBR>heraldsun.<WBR>com</A><BR>Nov
27, 2007<BR><BR>HILLSBOROUGH -- As the civil trial of Stephen Coffee<BR>-- who
allegedly was driving drunk when he hit a blind<BR>woman waiting for a bus and
killed her Seeing<BR>Eye dog -- begins today, the question jurors will<BR>likely
want answered is who was the driver of the car<BR>that hit Danielle
Iredale?<BR><BR>Iredale, the woman injured in the Oct. 5, 2005, wreck<BR>on BPW
Club Road in Carrboro, filed a civil suit<BR>against Coffee, claiming he was the
driver and asking<BR>for compensation for medical bills and severe<BR>emotional
distress, as well as punitive damages.<BR><BR>The trial is scheduled to begin
today in Orange County<BR>Civil Superior Court with jury selection. On
Monday,<BR>Superior Court Judge Paul Gessner heard pre-trial<BR>motions from
both Iredale's and Coffee's attorneys.<BR><BR>The judge decided to exclude an
anonymous letter that<BR>someone sent Iredale claiming that he, not Coffee,
was<BR>responsible for the wreck. The letter, which<BR>was not read in court,
was described as saying that<BR>the author was sorry for what happened but was
afraid<BR>to come forward to accept the consequences.<BR><BR>The letter was
postmarked in Fayetteville but did not<BR>identify the author. After Iredale
received the<BR>letter, she turned it over to investigators at the<BR>Carrboro
Police Department, who dusted it for<BR>fingerprints but were unable to identify
who had<BR>written it.<BR><BR>Kristie Farwell, one of Coffee's attorneys, said
the<BR>question of who was driving her client's car that<BR>morning is the crux
of the case. Coffee always denied<BR>he was driving and said someone named Brian
was<BR>driving his car, she said.<BR><BR>Iredale's attorney, William Plyler,
argued that the<BR>letter would only be confusing because no one knows<BR>who
wrote it. It could have been by written by Coffee<BR>himself or a friend of his,
the lawyer said.<BR><BR>Gessner agreed with Plyler, saying the hearsay
law<BR>requires the name and address of the person and there<BR>was no evidence
that letter was trustworthy because<BR>it was anonymous. He said the letter
could not be<BR>submitted as evidence.<BR><BR>Coffee pleaded guilty in August
2006 to driving while<BR>impaired and felony hit and run but did not admit
his<BR>guilt during a criminal hearing. He was sentenced<BR>to four months in
prison.<BR><BR>After Coffee was released from prison, he went to<BR>Virginia,
according to Plyler, and applied for a<BR>driver's license there. On his
application, he did not<BR>mention his North Carolina license had been
revoked<BR>for the Iredale wreck and that he had just served time<BR>for driving
while impaired and felony hit and<BR>run.<BR><BR>Coffee's defense team asked the
judge to exclude<BR>mention of that incident, but the judge denied
their<BR>motion after Plyler said it is evidence of Coffee's<BR>lack of
credibility.<BR><BR>Coffee's defense team asked that evidence of
emotional<BR>distress from the death of Iredale's Seeing Eye dog,<BR>Inka, and
photos of Iredale and Inka be excluded<BR>from the trial.<BR><BR>A dog is
considered property in North Carolina, and a<BR>person cannot be compensated for
emotional loss of<BR>property, said Reid Russell, Coffee's other
attorney.<BR><BR>Plyler told the judge there may be an exception to the<BR>law
regarding Seeing Eye or assistance animals and<BR>asked for additional time to
research the issue.<BR><BR>Gessner allowed the two photos of Iredale and Inka
to<BR>be submitted into evidence and told Plyler to be ready<BR>this morning to
make further arguments about<BR>Seeing Eye dogs and assistance
animals.<BR><BR>Coffee's attorneys also asked that the value of Inka<BR>be
limited to what Iredale paid for the dog, which was<BR>$150. She paid $50 for a
replacement dog, they<BR>said.<BR><BR>Plyler told the judge that the value of a
Seeing Eye<BR>dog is between $50,000 and $70,000 based on the cost<BR>and time
it takes to train the animal. A person<BR>receiving a Seeing Eye dog pays a
token fee, which<BR>does not reflect the actual cost of the dog.<BR><BR>The
judge denied the defense's motion to exclude the<BR>cost of training the dog,
but said they could question<BR>Iredale about how much she actually paid
for<BR>the dog.<BR><BR>Other defendants in the case, including the bar
He's<BR>Not Here, and Eric Stubbs, an employee of the bar,<BR>have settled out
of court in a confidential agreement.<BR><BR>On Monday, defense attorneys said
they wanted to know<BR>how much the settlement was for, but the judge
denied<BR>their motion for now. It could come up later<BR>in the trial if it
turns out the other defendants made<BR>a deal to testify against Coffee, and at
that time,<BR>the issue could be reconsidered.<BR><BR>© 2007 by The Durham
Herald Company. All rights
reserved.<BR><BR>____________<WBR>_________<WBR>_________<WBR>_________<WBR>_________<WBR>_________<WBR>_<BR>Be
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