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(Melbourne, Florida)  After hours of mediation between the family of Gerald Morelock with Billy Lane and attorneys for DaimlerChrysler, an out of court settlement has been negotiated. The civil action was filed in October of 2006 by June Morelock, the mother of Gerald Morelock against William D. Lane and Daimler Chrysler for the wrongful death of her son. Attorneys for all parties met with a mediator for hours on Monday with Billy Lane and the Morelock family all present. The case is now closed and a settlement has been reached between the parties for a undisclosed amount .

 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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Viera, Florida - The DUI Manslaughter charges held against Melbourne custom motorcycle builder Billy Lane remain pending after his case went before Judge Allawas this morning during the 9:00 calendar call.

Robert Berry of  the law firm Eisenmenger Berry & Peters, P.A, was present to represent and speak on behalf of  Defendant, William D. Lane, who was not present. Robert Berry asked the court to continue the case stating that he and assistant State Attorney, Mike Brown were working diligently on trying to clear some questions surrounding the blood work. You may recall, that the blood work Mr. Barry has mentioned was taken from Billy Lane at the hospital over 45 minutes after the crash happened that took the life of 56 year old Gerald Morelock of Melbourne Beach, Florida back on September 4, 2006.

The blood was sent to the Florida Department of Law Enforcement crime lab and it was determined that Billy Lane had a blood alcohol content of .192 at the time the blood was drawn. Lane was later charged with DUI Manslaughter and could face up to 15 years imprisonment by Florida State law. The Judge granted the continuance and set the next date for docket sounding of September 21, 2007 which will exceed a year since the date of the crash. State Attorney Mike Brown had told me that these type of cases typically take around 18 months to complete the process.

Technorati Tags: billy lane, DUI, drunk driving, florida, melbourne, motorcycle news, law, court

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(Titusville, Florida) A calendar call was scheduled today at 1:30 pm in the civil trial filed against Billy Lane and Dodge by the Mother of Gerald Morelock for the wrongful death of her son.

The motion filed on behalf of Billy Lane and Dodge states that because evidence was found from a autopsy report showing that Gerald Morelock had alcohol in his blood, that the plaintiff should share responsibility in the crash. Lane was driving a promotional Dodge pickup loaned to him on labor day 2006 when he struck and killed Gerald Morelock. Billy Lane refused to submit to any type of alcohol test, but blood was taken 45 minutes after the September 4th crash and sent to The Florida Department of Law Enforcement crime lab.

Billy Lane’s BAC was returned by the FDLE crime lab reflecting a blood alcohol level of .192, while the autopsy report of Gerald Morelock later showed he had a blood level of .133. The attorneys for the defense of Billy Lane and DaimlerChrysler filed the motion hoping to show that the plaintiff could have had equal responsibility in the crash for this reason.

The motion was denied by the court when Attorney Sam Cacciatore pointed to case law showing that this motion would hold the “Plaintiff” at partial fault. The plaintiff in this case is Dolores Morelock, the mother of Gerald Morelock.

Mr. Cacciatore told me that the motion was suitable for a case were the plaintiff was injured. Because this is a wrongful death suit and Mrs. Morelock was the plaintiff, she could not be held responsible shared or otherwise for the crash. The civil action against Billy Lane and Dodge is scheduled to be heard in late August.

Billy Lane still faces a criminal charge of DUI Manslaughter from the same crash and could face up to 15 years in jail. No trial date has been set for the criminal case yet.

Technorati Tags: DUI, DWI, Billy Lane, Dodge, Melbourne, Titusville Florida, court, trial, civil, criminal, law, motorcycle news

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Paris Hilton, by way of one of her myspace pals has started a online petition to be pardoned so that she will not have to do jail time.

The story of Paris Hilton being arrested for DUI was no different from other Hollywood celebrities, except there seemed to be a rash of them in one month. Today I read a story about how Schwarzenegger ‘Too Busy’ to Bother with Paris on Hollywood.Com that tells of the petition to pardon Ms. Hilton and how the California Governor has distanced himself from the case.

This petition, called the FREE PARIS HILTON PETITION  is addressed to Arnold Schwarzenegger calling her DUI a “honest mistake”.  She was sentenced to 45 days in jail for breaking the terms of that DUI and driving on a suspended license, that was no mistake. One day Ms. Hilton is claiming she is ready to face the consequences of her DUI and later asking for a pardon. Her lawyers have already filed an appeal of the sentencing on her behalf. Question is, why was she not taken to jail then? Paris Hilton is to report to jail on June 5th with a appeal and online petition in progress. Paris stated that she is not above the law in  the same interview, yet was photographed driving only a few days after her sentencing.

I have to wonder just how many will actually sign such a petition. Moreover, how many of those who do sign will regret they did when someone close to them is hurt or killed by someone driving impaired or on a suspended license. Realistically, how valid would a petition like this be? Given that the petition originates from a myspace account and there is no entry for age or voter verification.

Here is an interesting outlook by Attorney Alan Dershowitz about celebrity injustice entitled Star cases put our entire legal system on trial. It will be interesting to see how this all pans out.

Technorati Tags: celebrity injustice, dui, dwi, hollywood, law, paris hilton

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Viera, Florida – Attorney for chopper builder Billy Lane was to appear in court today and present his “Motion To Withdraw” to Judge Allawas, but Mr. Funk was not present at today’s 9:00 am calendar call at the Moore Justice Center in Viera.

Melbourne based attorney Kepler Funk has been one of the attorneys handling the defense in the criminal case against Choppers Inc. owner Billy Lane. Lane originally faced three felony charges stemming from a labor day crash that left Gerald Morelock, 56 of Melbourne Beach dead. Lane and female passenger, Erin Derrick were hospitalized, but treated for injuries and later released.

Lane was driving a 2006 Dodge pickup promotional vehicle loaned to him by the DaimlerChrysler Corporation while attempting to pass three vehicles in a no pass zone and hit Morelock head on killing him instantly. It was later determined that had been drinking and had a blood alcohol content of .192 and he was charged with DUI Manslaughter. The other two original charges were dropped by the State of Florida back in November of 2006. Mr. Morelock autopsy report revealed that he had a BAC of .133, but witnesses have stated that he was driving correctly when Lane hit him.

Mr. Funk was expected to make his motion to withdraw today because of a conflict of interest, however Judge Allawas stated that there was also a calendar call scheduled for Monday, April 16 and she would hear all motions then.

Attorney Robert Barry from the newly appointed law firm of Eisenmenger, Barry and Peters stated that he was only present as an observer today. Billy Lane added  Attorney Gregory Eisenmenger back in January of this year. I contacted Mr. Funk in January and he stated that both he and Mr. Eisenmenger were handling Mr. Lane’s Criminal case at that time.

Mr. Eisenmenger was not present in court today, however you may recall that he recently appeared for a hearing in the ongoing civil case filed by the mother of Gerald Morelock against Dodge and Lane for the wrongful death of her son. The civil trial is currently seeing a lot of document traffic, but no court appearance has been scheduled at this time. Judge Moxley had set a date for August for the trial to be heard.

Technorati Tags: billy lane, criminal court, dodge, dui, florida, melbourne, motorcycle news, news, viera

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Billy Lane’s new criminal attorney, Gregory Eisenmenger was present at the 4:15 pm hearing in the civil case filed against Billy Lane and DaimlerChrysler for the wrongful death of Gerald Morelock. Mr. Eisenmenger announced to the court that he was sitting in today because “ today’s hearing touches on advice I have given my client in the criminal case” and “I am here to help answer questions and advise”.

In fact, no questions were answered. The reason for today’s hearing was whether the questions would be answered or not. Also present today, by telephone, Sammy Cacciatore and Sam Cacciatore for plaintiff Dolores Morelock and Jefferey Vernis for Billy Lane. William McCandless, attorney for DaimlerChrysler was on the conference call as well.

Attorney Sam Cacciatore, filed a request for admissions with the court, asking Billy Lane to answer questions that could shorten the civil hearing time in court. Billy Lane’s civil and criminal attorneys agreed that it was in Billy Lane’s best interest to invoke the 5^th amendment and not answer the questions because the criminal trial for DUI Manslaughter against Lane was still on-going. Questions pertaining to venue, such as time, date and place were under objection. Criminal attorney Eisenmenger stated that it was up to the State of Florida to prove that the crash happened, adding that they must also prove where and when, along with the identity of the deceadant, Gerald Morelock in the criminal case against Lane. Eisenmenger later added that answering these questions could be extremely damaging to his client with the criminal charges still pending.

Most of the objections to the questions were sustained by Judge Moxley, as they were read to the court one by one. These questions will all be presented in a later article here on this blog. Judge Moxley did overrule on a few of the objectionable questions. Cacciatore had requested that Billy Lane produce all documents pertaining to any type of lease agreement that he had with Dodge for the Dodge Ram pickup that he was driving the night of the crash. In response, civil attorney Vernis stated that there was no written agreement between Dodge and Billy Lane for the promotional vehicles that Lane had in his possession and control. Vernis called the question very broad for the plaintiffs to ask for any and all documents.

Objections were heard from both of Billy Lane’s attorneys when questions were asked about Erin Derrick, the female passenger with Billy Lane on the night of the crash. Attorney Sam Cacciatore said “ we have no idea what the relationship was” between Billy Lane and Erin Derrick. Eisenmenger, said that Ms. Derrick could be a link in the chain of evidence for the criminal case and had advised Lane not to answer. It was determined by the court that Lane would have to answer the question regarding his driving history by listing all traffic citations prior to the Labor Day crash. I asked attorney Greg Eisenmenger how he felt about the decisions. Eisenmenger stated “ I think the judge ruled appropriately in all respects.

I will elaborate as to all of the questions in a full article tomorrow.

Technorati Tags: billy lane, motorcycle news, blog, dui, trial, court, florida, celebrity news

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 (Titusville, Florida) James E. Bremmer, 53, of Titusville has had his driver licensed revoked for more than 5 years for arrests on 3 DUIs back in 1998. The charges were enough to mark him as a habitual offender, yet he was driving a borrowed pick up truck on Sunday night and veered into the path of 52 year old motorcyclist Dennis Bestwick. The pick up truck that Bremmer was driving side swiped Bestwick while riding his motorcycle northbound on US 1 killing him.

Bremmer has been charged with DUI manslaughter, driving with a suspended license, violation of right of way and DUI with property damage. Trooper Kim Miller also noted that if someone lent Bremmer the truck on a revoked license, that person could face fines for allowing an unauthorized driver access.

Because, Trooper Kim Miller, the public information officer for the FHP does not recognize me as a news source, I have to refer to a story just released to the mass media published in the Sun Sentinel for this post.

Source:

http://www.sun-sentinel.com

Technorati Tags: motorcycle news, dui, drunk driving, florida, titusville, blog

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A recent article in Florida Today “breaking news” section seems to stirred up old news in the Billy Lane DUI Manslaughter case. The article entitled Lane scheduled for court appearance reports that two of the three charges Lane faced were dropped. The story seems to have spawned from an earlier report on February 23 by WFTV channel 9, Orlando reporting Two Charges Dropped Against Celebrity Motorcycle Builder. This is nothing new in the case and most that have been following the Billy Lane cases know that this happened months ago.

What caught my eye in the story was the date of March 16 being reported as scheduled for next appearance. Because I was present during the last docket sounding on February 2 and reported the next court date to be March 23, 2007, I wanted to know why the date had been changed. It appears that there was a clerical error made on all of the cases from the February 2nd docket setting them for the next date of March 23rd. When the error had been discovered in the conflicting dates, notices were sent out to all parties notifying them of the new date set to March 16th.

Aside the criminal case for DUI manslaughter Lane faces, there is a pending civil suit against Billy Lane and ChryslerDaimler for the wrongful death of victim Gerald Morelock. Billy Lane was driving a promotional vehicle owned by Dodge on the night of September 4th that struck and killed Morelock while attempting to pass 3 vehicles in a double yellow no passing zone along Highway A1A in Melbourne Beach.

Source:

http://www.wftv.com/news/11094035/detail.html

http://www.floridatoday.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070224/BREAKINGNEWS/70224004

Technorati Tags: motorcycle news, dui, billy lane, daimlerchrysler, court, law, melbourne, florida, brevard county

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(Titusville, Florida) Trial target date set for August 20, 2007 in wrongful death auto negligence case against Billy Lane and DaimlerChrysler Corporation.

Although today’s appearance in the civil case against Billy Lane and Dodge was a calendar hearing, there were some motions presented to the court. Present at the hearing today were Jeffery Vernis, Esq. and Terrance Perkins attorneys for defendant, William D. Lane. William McCandless, attorney for defendant, DaimlerChrysler, was present by telephone. Representing the plaintiff(s) Dolores J. Morelock, Estate of Gerald V Morelock, were S. Sammy Cacciatore and Sammy M. Cacciatore. The hearing was held in chambers of Honorable Judge John D. Moxley Jr. at 1:30 pm today.

Jeffrey Vernis Presented an oral argument to the court on his Motion To Dismiss, filed November 26, 2006, asking the court to dismiss the case against Lane. The Motion To Dismiss states that the plaintiff fails to set forth the required elements of negligence in the complaint filed. Vernis made oral argument before the court on the motion to dismiss while citing the Florida Law, Rules & Guidelines and case law. Cacciatore stated to the court that while he felt the complaint was sufficient, he would be willing to add the word “negligence” to paragraph 9 in an amended complaint. Judge Moxley denied the motion to dismiss and accepted the offer of the amended complaint.

Jeffrey Vernis next approached the court on the Motion For Speedy Trial that was filed by the plaintiff on November 7, 2006. Vernis stated that the motion had been ruled on without being heard and asked that the court entertain his response. Judge Moxley allowed Vernis to go on and then asked if he could be prepared for trial in four and a half months. Vernis called the motion for speedy trial “premature” and stated “your Honor, I would be very shocked if we could be ready for trial in four and a half months.” Judge Moxley upheld the motion for speedy trial and set the trial to be heard on August 20, 2007.

William McCandless, attorney for DaimlerChrysler was to speak to the court by telephone about the affirmative defenses that he had filed on November 15, 2006, but McCandless had another call and disconnected from the hearing.

Technorati Tags: auto negligence, billy lane, daimlerchrysler, dui, law, motorcycle news, wrongful death, dodge, court, titusville, florida

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(Melbourne, Florida) Billy Lane criminal case calendar call, February 2, 2007.

I had reported on January 19th that Billy Lane had changed attorneys to represent him in the DUI Manslaughter case that was set for calendar call today. The report, it seems, was incorrect. It was learned earlier today that Lane has added an attorney to the case. Two attorneys stood before Judge Allawas at the Viera courthouse in Brevard County, Florida to request the case be set for calendar call
on March 23, 2007.

Keith F. Szachacz, Esq. appeared for the law office of Funk, Szachacz & Diamond, LLC.

Robert Ralph Berry was present representing the law offices of Eisenmenger, Berry & Peters, P.A. Berry, stood behind Szachacz and agreed to the new date of March 23. Judge Allawas asked if Defendant, Lane was present and both attorneys stated that Billy Lane was not present today. The Judge asked if Lane was being represented by both offices. Judge Allawas remarked “that scares me” when it was confirmed that Billy Lane was being represented by both.

Billy Lane also has a related civil case pending were he and ChryslerDaimler are being sued for auto negligence and the wrongful death of Gerald Morelock. This case has been scheduled for February 7th 2007 at the Titusville Courthouse.

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