Ocmulgee Judicial Circuit District Attorney T. Wright Barkdale III will not pursue criminal charges against a deputy sheriff recently involved in a fatal collision in Baldwin County, The Union-Recorder has learned.
The two-vehicle crash happened May 15 on Kings Road. It led to the death of 67-year-old Louis “Louie” Peter Mazzola and left Baldwin County Sheriff’s Office Deputy Sgt. Reid William White, 37, slightly injured.
Mazzola, who lived near where the collision happened, was a native of Westbury, New York, and moved to Baldwin County several years ago as part of the transition team to open the Grumman Plant in Milledgeville. The plant, still located here, is now known as Qarbon Aerospace.
As of Thursday, White still had not returned to his night shift supervisory position.
A trooper with the Georgia State Patrol Specialized Collision Reconstruction Team, Cpl. Emily Beaulieu, along with one of her superiors met with Barksdale in his Jones County office Tuesday to discuss her 135-page SCRT report, findings and opinion. Barksdale said Beaulieu believes White should be charged with vehicular homicide in the first degree, speeding, reckless driving and passing in a no passing zone.
“After a careful review of the entire case file, and a thorough discussion with Cpl. Beaulieu, the Ocmulgee Judicial Circuit District Attorney’s Office disagrees with the Georgia State Patrol,” said Barksdale later that day through an email to the newspaper. “The State of Georgia lacks the necessary evidence to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Sgt. Reid White committed a violation of the laws of the State of Georgia.”
The district attorney said his thoughts and prayers are with all parties involved in the tragedy.
“The events that transpired are nothing short of heartbreaking, but the actions of Sgt. White were not criminal in nature,” Barksdale said.
The district attorney, who prosecutes criminal cases in eight counties of Georgia including Baldwin County, said because White’s actions were not criminal he would not present the case to a grand jury for possible indictments against him.
Baldwin County Sheriff Bill Massee and Maj. Scott Deason, who oversees the entire road patrol division of the sheriff’s office, were made aware of Barksdale’s decision shortly after it was made.
“We still take the same position,” Massee said, noting that the sheriff’s office requested the deputy-involved fatal collision be investigated by the Georgia State Patrol.
He explained that anytime a deputy is involved in a vehicle crash it is policy that the investigation be turned over the state patrol for an independent investigation.
The longtime sheriff said he stands by Barksdale’s decision not to take the case before a grand jury.
“We still offer extreme condolences to the family that was involved,” Massee said. “And we’re extremely sorry for what happened here in Baldwin County.”
Barksdale said the state patrol’s recommendation was that Sgt. White committed felony offenses in his efforts to respond to an emergency 911 call from a woman that her husband had been murdered. The two calls made from a house on Kings Road were later determined to be false.
During an interview with the newspaper Wednesday following a review of the findings that Beaulieu made, Barksdale said he couldn’t disagree with the conclusion reached by the state law enforcement agency.
“I reviewed this entire case file and viewed the dash cam video numerous times,” Barksdale said. “It is tragic. It is horrible. Somebody lost their life. However, what we know is that Reid White was trying to get to what he believed reasonably to be a murder scene. All the deputies that went to that scene were traveling at a high-rate of speed in an attempt to get there as quickly as they could.
“We know that Reid White was not running his siren the entire time that he was en route to this 911 call,” Barksdale said.
The district attorney made several other comments during a two-hour plus interview with the newspaper. In addition, he also showed the dash cam video involving the emergency call from the time White received it until the exact time of the collision with Mazzola’s 2005 Ford Explorer.
“We also know by the Georgia State Patrol’s own admission, although it’s not in their report that the deputy involved in this collision was running at 98 miles an hour, which means he was outrunning his sirens,” Barksdale said. “The sirens were no good as to notifying anybody that he was traveling down that road. They have admitted that to me. But, ironically, that’s not in her report. That was a critical piece of evidence. And what we also know, and it’s undisputed is that Mr. Mazzola unfortunately did not use a turn signal when he turned in front of a patrol deputy who was running blue lights in the pitch dark. We know that without any question because it’s on video.”
Barksdale also noted that Mazzola never moved to the right shoulder of the roadway as required by state law when an emergency vehicle is approaching from the front or the rear.
“I believe he had an obligation to yield to an oncoming deputy who had his blue lights running,” the district attorney said. “And as I noted previously, the state patrol has told me that sirens would have done nothing to notify that motorist.”
After closely reviewing the case file provided by the state patrol, he said that as district attorney, he cannot prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Sgt. White committed criminal offenses when he struck the victim’s vehicle.
“And the reason I cannot do that is because of the fact that the victim who tragically lost his life, Mr. Mazzola, did not use a lefthand turn signal and he was not wearing a seatbelt,” Barksdale said. “In addition to that there is much to be desired in this Georgia State Patrol SCRT report. So, the combination of the lack of evidence that’s been provided to me in addition to the evidence that I have seen and have reviewed and the discussions that I have had with the state patrol has left me with the legal opinion as the district attorney for this circuit in Baldwin County that the State of Georgia cannot prove a reasonable doubt that Sgt. Reid White committed felony offenses at the time this fatal accident occurred. Obviously, we have put much thought and consideration into what has been presented to us. However, we cannot began to split hairs.”
The district attorney explained that the deputies involved in responding to that emergency call that night were doing what the residents expect of their first responders when they get a call from a dispatcher.
“We expect them to go as fast as they can toward that scene to ensure that the people in this great county, this circuit, and this state remain safe,” Barksdale said. “If we start arresting and indicting law enforcement officers and splitting hairs under situations like this ... it will cause a wave the size of tsunamis. And the impact will be immeasurable as to the impact that it has on our ability to have quality people protect the streets of this community to ensure that we remain safe. Unfortunately, as our EMS, firefighters, law enforcement conduct their day-to-day business to ensure that we have a safe community to live in there are going to be accidents that take place from time to time. This was an accident. It’s horrible, and my heart goes out to all the people involved in this situation.”
