Court considers whether murder charge can be filed against driver

~ Although driving with a suspended license is normally a misdemeanor, it can become a felony.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- A Missouri appeals court stopped the murder trial of an unlicensed driver who caused a fatal wreck to decide whether the unusually severe charge is appropriate.

A defense attorney said Kevin S. Fisher, 27, appears to be the only driver in Missouri and possibly the first in the nation to be charged with felony murder -- because of driving on a suspended license -- after a deadly crash.

He plowed a van into the back of a parked truck on the morning of June 14, 2005, killing his passenger, Wendell S. Guinn, 21. Fisher then walked a few blocks home, where he collapsed after telling someone what had happened.

Tests conducted after police found Fisher revealed no alcohol or drugs in his blood.

Fisher had no Missouri record for drunken driving but had been driving with a suspended license since 2003, records showed. He lost his license for not paying for tickets for speeding, driving while suspended and failing to provide proof of insurance.

Before that, he had two violations for careless driving and for driving without a license.

Prosecutors are allowed to file a felony murder charge when a person dies during the commission of another felony, such as an armed robbery or a drunken driver causing a deadly crash.

Normally, a driver with a suspended license would face no more than a charge of involuntary manslaughter, which carries a maximum sentence of seven years. The maximum sentence for the murder charge is life in prison.

Although driving with a suspended license is normally a misdemeanor, it can become a felony for people with two or more prior felony convictions. Fisher has three convictions for car theft and one each for drugs and burglary.

Jackson County prosecutor Jim Kanatzar said the felony murder charge is fair for people with a history of dangerous driving.

But Dan Ross, Fisher's attorney, said he could not find one case nationwide in which prosecutors charged someone with felony murder based on driving with a suspended license.

With this felony murder charge, he said, "An improperly licensed person could be charged with murder for an accident that is clearly another person's fault."

Kanatzar countered that prosecutors could choose not to pursue such cases. Even if prosecutors charged an unlicensed driver who was not at fault in a deadly crash, he said jurors would not convict the driver.