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Partial Guilty Verdict Follows Double Fatal Crash Trial

Posted at 2:34 PM, Apr 22, 2014
and last updated 2014-04-22 14:34:24-04

KENT COUNTY, Mich (April 22, 2014) – A Kent County man accused of causing a crash that killed two people last October has been found guilty of drunken driving causing death for one of the victims.

joseph ford mugshot.jpg

Joseph Ford (Photo: Kent County Sheriff’s Department)

On October 10, a three vehicle crash near 36th and Patterson claimed the lives of 20-year-old Andrea Herrera and 23-year-old Eric Fischer.

After three days of testimony and more than 7 hours of deliberation on Monday, a jury found Joseph Ford guilty of drunken driving causing death and reckless driving causing death in the case of Herrera.

A jury also found Ford guilty of a misdemeanor offense causing death in the case of Fischer.  The jury was told during the trial that Fischer was also driving with a blood-alcohol level above the legal limit at the time of the crash.

Ford faces up to 15 years in prison for the Herrera conviction when he’s sentenced in mid-May.