TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – The Florida Supreme Court on Wednesday scheduled arguments Feb. 9 in the DUI manslaughter conviction of a Clay County man whose son was killed when their all-terrain vehicle was struck by a truck on a rural road.
Thomas Frank Clark went to the Supreme Court last year after the 1st District Court of Appeal upheld his conviction in the December 2015 accident that killed his son, Kameron, 17.
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Clark was riding the ATV with his son on the back when it tipped into a ditch, according to court documents. Clark was able to get the ATV upright in the road and sat on it with his son while trying to start the vehicle. The truck then struck them, injuring Clark and killing Kameron, who had Down syndrome.
A test at a hospital showed Clark had a blood-alcohol level that exceeded the legal limit, and he was subsequently convicted of DUI manslaughter.
Clark has argued, in part, that insufficient evidence existed to show that he was in control of the ATV at the time of the accident or that his operation of the vehicle caused his son’s death.
Also, he has argued that a circuit judge and the 1st District Court of Appeal improperly denied what is known as a “downward departure” from his sentence of 10 years and five months in prison.
Clark, now 58, is an inmate at Putnam Correctional Institution, according to information on the Florida Department of Corrections website.