Friday, January 29, 1999
Former football player arraigned in fatal crash
Two people died in Nov. accident
The Associated Press
SOMERSET, Ky. — A judge on Thursday scheduled former Kentucky football player Jason Watts to stand trial July 19 on felony charges stemming from a truck crash that killed a teammate and another young man.
Mr. Watts said nothing during a brief formal arraignment in Pulaski Circuit Court and entered a not-guilty plea.
Mr. Watts, 21, of Oviedo, Fla., was indicted last month on two charges of second-degree manslaughter and one count of wanton endangerment. He was at the wheel early on the morning of Nov. 15, when his truck went out of control on U.S. 27 north of Somerset and flipped over, killing passengers Arthur Steinmetz, 19, a Kentucky football transfer from Edgewood, and Scott Brock, 21, an Eastern Kentucky University student.
Mr. Watts was severely injured in the crash and was dismissed from the football team after authorities brought charges against him, saying his blood alcohol level was 11/2 times the legal limit. He has since left school.
If convicted at trial, he faces up to 20 years in prison.
During the hearing, Judge Daniel J. Venters said that because prosecutors and Mr. Watts' lawyers had exchanged evidence, there was no need to schedule any additional pretrial hearings. He then questioned defense lawyer James Lowry and Prosecutor Michael Pratt, who agreed the trial would take about three days.
Accompanying Mr. Watts to court was his former roommate and teammate Paul McGonagle, who testified last month before the grand jury that indicted Mr. Watts.
After the hearing, Messrs. Watts, McGonagle and Lowry and another lawyer, Daniel Simon, left the courthouse through a back entrance and drove away in a sport utility vehicle, declining to comment.
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