(Viera, Florida) Billy Lane was sworn in today for the first time since his arrest almost 3 years ago for DUI Manslaughter causing the death of Melbourne Beach resident Gerald Morelock. Attorney Greg Eisenmenger entered a plea of “no contest” on behalf of Billy Lane before Judge Burger explained the governing rules of the plea. Judge Burger then began to ask Lane the standard questions regarding a plea. There was a slight hesitation of yes your honor when the Judge asked Billy about his mental state. The Judge then asked State Attorney Tom Brown to state the cause for charges filed.

The plea today was entered against the charge of vehicular homicide which was filed late in the case by the state. After the hearing, Attorney Eisenmenger stated that they had been contesting and battling against the DUI and the mishandling of the blood work. Eisenmenger made a point to brief the court of what his plans were to bring forth mitigating circumstances to curtail Lane doing any time in prison. He suggested that Lane would instead be held accountable by means of probation or house arrest and listed other terms of a possible agreement. Some of terms mentioned were that Billy Lane’s drivers license be revoked for life, that he attend drug and alcohol abuse programs and that he would do community service as the court found fit.

Billy Lane left the court room as reporters asked him to comment, however Attorney Greg Eisenmenger told us that Lane would not be making any comments at this time. Lane has not commented publicly about the incident yet.

Outside the court room Attorney Greg Eisenmenger answered questions from reporters. When asked if he was satisfied with a 9 year prison sentence, he responded that he intends to bring forward mitigating circumstances to in hope of working out a deal in which Lane would not be incarcerated. Eisenmenger stated that ultimately the final judgement would be up to the court and could be anywhere from a amount of time probation or house arrest up to the low side of the guidelines which would call for 9 years imprisonment. He was also asked about how Billy was doing and what he was doing. Eisenmenger stated that he did not make a habit of following his clients day to day life, however he felt that Billy was still working in the motorcycle industry as he was. He went on to say that Billy has shown remorse for what happened and even at some points more remorse than what he had been advised.

Sentencing has been scheduled for August 14.

I contacted Byron Morelock, the brother of the victim Gerald Morelock after the hearing and he released the following statement:

As most of you already know, my family has been following this case from day one.
The Plea today is not a surprise.
It is true that this case has taken a long time to get to this point, however,
I have always attempted to have faith in the system.
There are many different and diverse opinions out there concerning every aspect of this case. That in itself, demonstrates how our country
Can be so diverse yet held together like timeless glue.
I have been in contact with all parties involved in an attempt to find ways
to turn this tragedy into a more positive outcome. In my heart I know that this is what my Dear Brother Gerry would have wanted. I want people to understand that I am handling this as Gerry has shown me, not necessarily as I want.
I would like to thank so many people for their prayers and good wishes and support

sincerely,
Byron & Seany Morelock

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Only days after the long running Billy Lane DUI case had a new Judge appointed, the Florida State Attorney’s office has filed a new charge against the Melbourne motorcycle builder. For over two years Billy Lane has faced the single felony charge of DUI Manslaughter and has appeared many times in the court of Brevard County Judge Meryl Allawas. Judge Allawas was voted off the bench in last year’s election and Judge Robert Burger has now taken over her case load. One of the cases still pending to be heard is the trial of custom motorcycle builder Billy Lane. Lane had three charges filed against him in 2006 for his involvement in a crash in Melbourne Beach that caused the death of 56 year old Gerald Morelock.

The case has taken many different courses since Lane’s arrest including two of the original charges filed against Lane being dismissed and original defense attorney Kepler Funk being replaced by Gregory Eisenmenger. With a trial date now set for February 9th, the State Attorney has filed a new charge of vehicular homicide against Billy. Lane is accused of attempting to pass cars in a no passing zone on Highway A1A while driving a 2006 Dodge pick up owned by Chrysler Corporation on September 4th, 2006.  The truck Lane was driving struck Morelock head on while riding his motor scooter and caused his death. Billy Lane and female passenger Erin Derrick were both injured in the crash as well, but were both released from the hospital.

Florida State Troopers suspected Lane of driving impaired and later drew blood by force at the hospital. The blood sample came back from the Florida Department of Law Enforcement lab testing positive for an illegal amount of blood alcohol. The blood sample taken that night has been a major part of contention in the case and motions filed by the defense are trying to strike it as evidence. It was later revealed in a autopsy report that the victim also had been drinking. The victim’s family as well as the passenger in the crash have both filed civil suit against Lane and Dodge for damages. The civil case filed by the mother of Gerald Morelock has been settled, while the case filed by passenger Erin Derrick remains open and has been moved out of county.

Lane still faces 10 years in prison if convicted on the new charge.

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The hearing for Billy Lane’s pending DUI Manslaughter charge scheduled for today at 2:00 in Viera was canceled. The next date scheduled for hearing is November 17th. However, State Attorney Tom Brown says that we are getting closer to a trial date to be set.

The state had asked to see the blood work report that had been produced by Lane’s expert witness, but the defense attorney has decided not to use the testimony, results or consultation of the witness they had hired. At the same time Lane’s defense has filed a motion to suppress the blood work as evidence in the case. Because the state was not allowed to view the results of the tests ordered by Lane’s attorney, the State of Florida has now sent the blood work to another expert to be analysed. State Attorney Tom Brown said that the report will be used in conjunction with the original report from the FDLE lab. The exact results of the new tests are not known yet but there is a deposition of the Doctor that performed the test scheduled that will reveal the findings.

I asked State Attorney Tom Brown if he thought this would go to trial and he said that he expects it to . He stated that the State is prepared to go to trial unless Lane was to plea to jail time. I asked what kind of plea would be acceptable and Brown said he would not accept anything less than 10 years jail time in order to keep this case from going to trial. You may recall that Billy Lane would be looking at at least 15 years jail time if he does go to trial and is found guilty of DUI Manslaughter.

Lane is still facing another civil suit that was filed by the passenger of the Dodge truck that he was driving on the night he passed in a no passing zone causing the death of Melbourne Beach resident Gerald Morelock. However, this civil trial that has been filed by passenger Erin Derrick against Billy Lane and Chrysler has been moved out of county and has no court date scheduled at this time.

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Update! on 6/18/2008 A new court date has been scheduled for July 10, 2008 at 11:00 am

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Eisenmenger told the court that he expects to have reached a decision on how he plans to use his expert witness within 30-45 days, sooner if she required it. “The results are back, I have not had a chance to look them over yet” Eisenmenger said to the court with his arm in a sling. I have an obvious injury and my assistant Mr. Barry is scheduled for surgery on Monday, hopefully we will be able to get this resolved as we both recuperate. Eisenmenger and Barry have not reached a decision on how that are planning on using the blood test results and expert witness for trial. There was an administrative hearing that had some unexpected issues resulting in their uncertainty. Based on these results we will determine if we plan on using Masten as a expert witness or just a consultant, Eisenmenger told the court. There is a 50 50 chance of us using him either way at this time.

State Attorney Tom Brown said that until Eisenmenger makes his decision, he has no choice but to wait. It will be based on the decision of Eisenmenger as to how we will proceed with the depositions in the case. We can not do the deposition of the witness without knowing what to ask and until we see the results ourselves we have to wait. After looking over some notes in the case, Judge Allawas reminded Attorney Eisenmenger of statements made by Ken Barry in previous hearings as to the expected time line.

Billy Lane, his Mother and Byron Morelock spoke outside the courthouse for some time. Byron was hoping to hear news of a trial date being set today, but was set back at further delays in the DUI Manslaughter trial related to the death of his brother Gerald Morelock. Byron and Billy have been talking about working out something positive toward what has happened, but no certain plans can be announced yet.

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Lane is scheduled for a hearing today at 1:30 pm in the criminal case where he is still facing charges of DUI Manslaughter.

More on this story as it unfolds.

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(Viera, Florida) Billy Lane was in court today but remained seated behind the court divider as his defense attorney, Ken Barry, appeared before Judge Allawas in the ongoing DUI Manslaughter charge that Lane faces. The main questions Judge Allawas wanted answered today were if the results were back from the independent lab the defense was using and when she would be able to set the case for trial.

Barry told the court that his office had received oral results on the blood work and based on the results he has ordered more testing. Barry told the court that he hopes to receive the final written results within the next 7 days. State attorney Mike Brown said that pictures were taken of the blood work before it was released and his interest was to see the return of the evidence and the report so that his office could examine the results as well. Both sides of the case should have the results by April 30th at which time more will be known on the exact amount of time that will be needed to prepare for trial.

Judge Allawas set a new hearing date for 1:30 pm on May 16th at which time she hopes to be able to set the case for trial. The mass media turnout for the hearing today was large in anticipation of a trial date being set, however that was not the result of the hearing. You may remember that the Judge had also stated that the final reports from the lab chosen by the defense may not be acceptable to be used as evidence in the trial. All of these questions still remain unanswered even after close to two years since the crash that left Melbourne Beach resident Gerald Morelock dead.

Billy Lane’s custom motorcycle shop, Choppers Inc. closed its doors to the public last year and now the building is empty. The Choppers Inc. web site states that the shop was to be moved in 2008, but there has been no notice of the location of a new shop. Billy Lane could get up to 15 years in prison if convicted on the DUI Manslaughter charge.

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Choppers Inc. the retail store that Lane owns has been closed to the public for over a year and their web site states that the store is relocating. Billy Lane has continued his work and still makes public appearances while he is waiting for a trial date to be set. Lane recently unveiled his latest project the Henderson Bike in Columbus, Ohio and is in Daytona Beach for Bike Week 2008.

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Billy Lane was in court today for a hearing still surrounding the blood work evidence. State attorney Tom Brown stated that he is concerned as to the credentials and credibility of Rocky Mountain Labs located in Colorado. Toxicologist, Dr. Lawrence Masten was not present to explain why he wants to use the lab, but defense attorney Gregory Eisenmenger stated that he could testify by telephone if needed.

Lane’s attorney argued that the state should have no ruling over where the blood work would be sent and claimed full responsibility for the evidence once it was under his control “If we lose it, it is on us” Eisenmenger said. Eisenmenger went on to say that he had researched deeply and was not able to find any other case where the state could dictate what lab should be used for an independent study.

Another issue that the state attorney’s office was unhappy with is that Lane’s defense wants both vials of blood for the testing. Attorney Tom Brown said, again we have no issues with the blood being tested, we just want the lab to show some credibility. Even the web site for the Rocky Mountain Labs should show some credentials and it does not, Brown went on to say. Brown also stated that the lab web site has many outgoing links to DUI defense law offices and schools. Eisenmenger injected that the FDLE ( Florida Department of Law Enforcement) web site has many outgoing links to law agencies so this is true with the lab as well(*).  State Attorney Samantha Barrett suggested that only one vial of the blood be sent out of state for testing at a time, to which Eisenmenger argued that this would only cause delays.

After hearing the arguments from both sides, Judge Allawas overruled the states objection to the evidence being sent out of state and said that she would allow the blood work to travel to Colorado. However, the Judge added that the state would be able to argue as to whether the study performed by the independent lab would be admissible if they feel they are not qualified.

Billy Lane still faces a trial for the criminal charges of DUI Manslaughter from the September 4th, 2006 fatal crash that caused the death of Sebastian Inlet Park ranger Gerald Morelock. Byron Morelock, the brother of Gerald Morelock was at today’s hearing. The charges could bring Billy Lane up to 15 years in prison. Next hearing date is set for pretrial confrence on March 5, 2008 at 9:00 am.

*I found this statement interesting, so I took a look at the outbound links for the two sites in comparison. The FDLE site has 10 outbound links, while the Rocky Mountain labs has 290. Using the web site SEO tools, I got the following results for the two sites mentioned.

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Gregory Eisenmenger estimated that he would need one half hour of the courts time in order for Dr. Masten, his expert toxicologist witness to testify as to why he would need to use a lab that is such a great distance from Brevard County, Florida. Dr. Masten uses a lab that is located in Colorado and State Attorney’s office has objected to the blood work being transported this distance. The motions and testimony were originally scheduled to be heard back on November 6th of last year, however attorney Eisenmenger was engaged in the trial of Florida State Representative Robert Allen who had been arrested for soliciting a male undercover officer for sex in a Titusville park restroom. Judge Allawas excused Eisenmenger’s absence and set a new date for today.

The new date for the motions and testimony has been set for January 18th at 4:00 pm. Eisenmenger will also try to suppress the blood evidence during this hearing.

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The hospital medical records of Melbourne, Florida custom motorcycle builder Billy Lane will now be allowed to be used as evidence in the DUI Manslaughter case against him. Choppers Inc. owner Billy Lane is facing criminal charges resulting from the Labor Day weekend crash of 2006 that left Melbourne Beach resident Gerald Morelock dead. The victim, Gerald Morelock was killed when he was hit head on by the Dodge pickup that Lane was driving at the time. Witnesses claim that Lane was speeding and had crossed a double yellow line in an attempt to pass 3 vehicles on State Road A1A when the crash occurred.

Billy Lane and his passenger, Erin Derrick were both taken to Holmes Regional hospital in Melbourne after the crash with injuries, Lane and Derrick were treated and released. Prosecutors in the DUI Manslaughter trial had filed a motion with the court to obtain copies of Lane’s medical records to be examined and possibly used as evidence in the case.

Judge Meryl Allawas ruled in favor of the motion on Tuesday allowing Lane’s medical records to be used in the trial. The defense attorneys for Lane argued that the records should not be allowed and contend that they are private. Defense attorney, Greg Eisenmenger has filed a motion to suppress the blood work taken from Billy Lane after the crash. Eisenmenger’s Motion In Limine says the state failed to comply with Florida Department of Law Enforcement rule 11D-8.012(5). The motion says that he has discovered that blood was not properly handled by not being refrigerated as required by the FDLE code.

FDLE Code 11D-8.012(5) states: “Blood samples need not be refrigerated if submitted for analysis within seven (7) days of collection, or during transportation, examination or analysis. Blood samples must be otherwise refrigerated, except that refrigeration is not required subsequent to the initial analysis”.

The burden of proof will be on the State of Florida to demonstrate they have complied with the FDLE rules.  The defense also filed a motion for independent blood analysis, but Judge Allawas is not happy with the independent lab being located so far away and has not ruled on the motion yet. Independent toxicologist Lawrence Masten of Largo, Florida has been retained by the defense to analyze the blood work, but the lab he uses, Rocky Mountain Instrumental Labs is located in Ft. Collins, Colorado thousands of miles away.

Custom motorcycle builder Billy Lane, shown above with defense attorney Gregory Eisenmenger has been present in court during the last few calendar calls. Eisenmenger has several motions to suppress the blood work yet to be heard by the court including the Motion To Limine (mentioned above) and another “motion to suppress the blood draw and resulting test”.

The motion to suppress the blood draw and resulting test was filed on September 28th, 2007 and states that the attending paramedic the night of the crash had detected the odor of alcoholic beverage in the cab of the vehicle and on the passenger. The same paramedic that provided that information did not detect any alcoholic beverage coming from the Defendant, Billy Lane. However, the paramedic did detect an obvious odor of alcoholic beverage from the passenger when he treated her. The female passenger in the truck on September 4, 2006 was 22 year old Erin Derrick of Rockledge, Florida.

The motion also states that registered nurse, Wayne Stewart, withdrew the blood from the Defendant as directed by Florida Highway Patrol Trooper Davis. Nurse Stewart testified that he did not detect the odor of an alcoholic beverage on Billy Lane at or before the blood draw.

the final paragraph of the motion reads: “Withdrawal of blood without consent is only permitted when an officer has knowledge of an accident involving death or serious bodily injury and some evidence that the suspect is under the influence of drugs or alcohol. Troopers Taylor and Davis, even taking into account the information known to trooper Corbett (but not communicated to Davis or Taylor) did not have any evidence of the Defendant being under the influence of alcohol at the time of the blood draw, so the draw is illegal. Because the draw was illegal, the Defendant is likewise entitled to suppression of the blood test results.”

These motions are expected to be heard before the court on November 6, 2007 at 9:00 am. The actual trial of Billy Lane is not expected to start until early 2008. Lane could face up to 15 years in jail if convicted on the non capital murder charge of DUI Manslaughter.

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Cabrera has a lengthy arrest history dating back to 1995, police said. He has two prior DUI arrests. If convicted, he might face a maximum term of 15 years. The accident occurred a before 8 p.m. Traffic homicide investigators continued to work at the scene late into the night. Traffic flow at the intersection was affected for hours. Those trying to go north on Minton Road near Emerson Drive were being directed to use alternative routes.

The above is a article that was published in Florida Today September 28, 2007 written by reporter Kaustuv Basu. Readers of this blog know that I rarely use re posts from other sources. However, somehow this story slipped on without my knowledge and it caught my eye yesterday in the Florida Today breaking news forums. My sincere condolences and sympathy go to the family of the victim, Nicoli Puglisi and prayers are for his son who survived the crash. From what I have read in the story chat, the child has undergone surgery and is still in ICU at the Orlando hospital he was air lifted to. There is talk of a fund being set up to help the family and when I get that information I will post it here for those who wish to contribute.

This story is disturbing in itself, and struck up some serious debate in the forum.  As in many stories of this nature where the writer makes mention of whether the rider was wearing a helmet or not, the great helmet debate ensues. Many times as in this particular case the helmet issue clouds the discussion over the greater issues. Another human life was taken of a motorcyclist by a person driving under the influence (DUI) in a automobile. Moreover, this man, Jose Ramon Cabrera has a long history of traffic infractions that include two previous arrests for DUI.

The last two posts in the story chat really caught my attention.

WHAT???!!! At first I didn’t/couldn’t believe what Nala41 posted, but it’s completely true. This piece of crap was let out of jail, committed yet ANOTHER running a light infraction and gets a friggen TICKET??? By the way, scum bags court date is November 28. Posted by: sweet_vindication on Thu Oct 11, 2007 11:19 pm

Well, I could not believe this myself. So I pulled the case to see if it could have been an error. To think that Mr. Cabrera could be out on bail and committed this careless driving offense days later was unimaginable. A Florida driver license check brought back the following information:
As of Oct 12, 2007, at 08:07 PM, driver license number C166-436-67-161-0 will soon be CANCELED, SUSPENDED, REVOKED, or DISQUALIFIED. Reason listed refuse to submit to breath/urine/blood test.

The citation that was issued in case  05-2007-TR-076556-AXXX-XX  indicated that the citation was NOT issued to Mr. Cabrera while driving days later as it appeared. It was issued as a summons request on 9/27/2007 and given to the Brevard county Sheriff office to be served. In fact as of today Jose Cabrera is still being held at the Brevard county jail under $320,000.00 bond. The record on case 05-2007-CF-061893-AXXX-XX reflects that Cabrera was arrested on the date of the crash and charged with DUI felony third or subsequent offense, DUI Manslaughter, DUI serious bodily injury and DUI with property damage. You will notice that the Case Type is Non Capital Murder for these charges. The Case Type for case number 05-2007-TR-076556-AXXX-XX is Traffic Infraction.

No dates have been set for docket soundings and the second appearance originally scheduled for 10/26/2007 has been canceled.

UPDATE 10/14: for the next 10 days donations can be sent to

Ronald MCdonald House Room #4

Arnold Palmer Medical Center

Att. Vincent Puglisi

1630 Kuhl Ave.

Orlando, Florida 32806

Source: http://www.floridatoday.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070928/BREAKINGNEWS/309280005

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(Viera, Florida)Famed custom motorcycle builder Billy Lane was present in court today as his attorney Gregory Eisenmenger argued his motion revolving around the blood work that has remained an issue for the past few months. Eisenmenger has asked that Lane’s blood work be looked at by his expert witness Lawrence Masten. So far the only thing that Masten has appeared to have done was view the blood work and from this viewing he has determined that there may have been a problem with the seal. The blood work was taken from Billy Lane over 45 minutes after the September 4, 2006 crash that left Melbourne Beach resident 56 year old Gerald Morelock dead. Lane was charged with 3 charges after it was determined that he has a blood alcohol content of .192 more than twice the legal limit of .08 allowed by Florida Law. The original charges that were filed against Billy Lane were DUI MANSLAUGHTER, DWLS RVKD OR CNCLD WITH SERIOUS INJURY OR DEATH, DUI SERIOUS BODILY INJURY. The State dismissed two of the charges back on 10/19/2006 leaving only the DUI Manslaughter charges pending. The DUI Manslaughter charges as of today are still pending with two new 1 hour hearings to be announced.

Attorney Gregory Eisenmenger told the court that his expert witness has determined that there may have been some leakage from the vial holding Lane’s blood not being properly sealed. Toxicologist Lawrence Masten says he suspects this because the blood volume appears to be low in the vial. Eisenmenger is asking that his expert be allowed to examine the blood in a lab to see if it may have been contaminated. However, Masten does not have a lab of his own and the lab he uses is in Colorado. The state objected Lane’s blood work being sent to Colorado when it could be easily tested at a closer lab in Brevard County. The court agreed with the states objection and questioned as to why it would be necessary to send the blood to another state. State Attorney Samantha Barrett suggested a closer lab used at Wuesthoff rather than sending the blood work such a great distance. Attorney Eisenmenger immediately interrupted stating ” We don’t like Wuesthoff”. Judge Allawas said that it appeared that it would be necessary to hear more about the blood work and reasons for the lab work, especially noting the objection to the DUI evidence having to be transported so far away. No date was set for this hearing today and will be announced at a later date. There is also a date to be announced in which a motion will be heard on the use of Lane’s medical records as evidence in the case.

Billy Lane is facing up to 15 years in prison if convicted on the criminal DUI Manslaughter charges that are still pending.

Next docket sounding for this case is currently scheduled for November 6, 2007

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(Melbourne, Florida) Billy Lane, the media and the court waited for the scheduled 2:30 hearing toady at the Brevard County court house in Viera, Florida. Just as the judge asked the court bailiff to have someone call the office of Lane’s attorney, Greg Eisenmenger, 10 minutes late Eisenmenger and assistant attorney Robert Berry entered the court room.

The court asked for a pretrial conference today to gain an idea on the exact status of the criminal DUI Manslaughter case that Choppers Inc. owner and custom motorcycle builder Billy Lane still faces since his arrest on September 25th of last year. After accepting apologies from  Defense attorney Gregory Eisenmenger for his being late, Judge Allawas asked both attorneys to report on the status of the case. Eisenmenger told the court that his expert witness was not able to view the blood work taken from Lane after the crash that killed Sebastian park ranger, Gerald Morelock on September 4th 2006. The blood work was sent to the Florida Department of Law Enforcement crime lab and showed a blood alcohol level of .192 for Billy Lane which lead to the charges he now faces. Attorney Eisenmenger said that he expects his expert witness to view the blood work by the 31st of this month and will know then in what form he will file new motions to suppress the evidence. Eisenmenger stated that he intends to file a motion to suppress the blood work evidence either way, but the findings of his expert witness will have an effect on how it will be filed. The court set a target date of September 28th for those motions to be filed.

State attorney Mike Brown stated that he anticipated filing motions as well depending on motions filed by the defense and asked that he be notified as to the name of the expert witness and his qualifications. Billy Lane’s attorney added that after his expert witness completes his findings he would be ready for trial within 4 to 6 weeks and said that he feels the trial should be scheduled to take 8 to 10 days to be heard.

After hearing the status of the case from both sides Judge Allawas stated that she expected the case to be set for trial near the first of next year, very close to the first she added.

Next pretrial conference is set for October 10th at 9:00 a.m. 

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 Billy Lane is still facing criminal charges for DUI Manslaughter, but the civil action against him and Dodge has ended in agreement. Lane’s criminal charges for DUI Manslaughter are still pending with the next scheduled hearing date of August 17 at the Brevard county court house in Viera Florida.

Byron Morelock, the brother of Gerald Morelock, the man killed by Billy Lane in the September 4, 2006 crash has released the following statement:

The Morelock family and Billy Lane / Daimler have come to an agreement. We would like to personally show our gratitude and heartfilled thanks to all of the people thru-out the nation that have showed us their support , love and caring. My family may not have made it through these hard times if it wasn’t for your caring and sympathy. Our tragedy has opened up a ground swell of emotions to say the least. We are just one, of too many families that have been forced into a regrettable situation. I once said that everyone loses in these situations……..although we lost Gerry, who was my best friend and big brother, It seems that I have found so many other ” brothers.” Men and woman that have taken time out of their lives to help us in many ways. They never have met us but opened up their hearts and souls to us .Gerry always said that I looked at the cup half “full”. With all the love shown to us by so many……our cup is slowly but surely filling up !! Please stay in touch with us. Let’s try and turn our tragedy into something good.

With true sincerity, Byron , Seany, June,Dawn & Chelsey Morelock

 More to come as I get the facts with more pictures and interviews coming.

Technorati Tags: billy lane, court, dui, florida, law, legal, melbourne, motorcycle news, wrongful death

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