Submitted by Bob Miller
National Park Service
ASHEVILLE, NC—Managers at Great Smoky Mountains National Park and United States Attorney Edward R. Ryan of the Western District of North Carolina, have announced that a federal bill of information has been filed charging Clyde L. Grubbs, 74, of Cincinnati, Ohio, with two criminal counts in connection with the August 19, 2009 motor vehicle accident that occurred in Swain County, North Carolina, and claimed the lives of two South Carolina motorcyclists.
Grubbs was charged on November 3, 2009 in U.S. District Court for the Western District of North Carolina under NCGS 20-141.4(a2) and 20-146, misdemeanor death by vehicle, a Class I misdemeanor, and NCGS 20-146, driving left of center. If convicted, Grubbs faces up to 6 months in jail for the first and more serious charge. Grubbs is scheduled to make his initial appearance in U.S. District Court in Asheville on Monday, Dec. 14.
According to the charges contained in the bill of information, two individuals were fatally injured when their vehicle was hit by a vehicle driven by Grubbs. According to official documents, Grubbs was traveling southbound on Newfound Gap Road driving an Oldsmobile Bravado mid-sized SUV when he reportedly crossed the centerline and sideswiped a 2008 Mercury Milan sedan, then continued on to hit a Harley Davidson motorcycle head-on.
The driver of the Mercury, a 41-year-old man from Waynesville, North Carolina, was treated and released from Swain County Hospital. A defendant charged in a federal bill of information is entitled to a presumption of innocence under the law, and the government has the burden of proving every element of the charges beyond a reasonable doubt.
