Man Acquitted in Parker County Weatherford Wrongful Death Wreck

A 33-year-old Hood County man was found not guilty on charges of racing and failure to stop and render aid in a January 2007 crash that killed Weatherford High School football standout Willie "B.B." Fielder.

A jury of seven men and five women earlier this week declined to convict Robert Ernest Wilkerson of Granbury on two charges stemming from the fatal crash.

"It was an unfortunate accident on an unfortunate stretch of road. It is very dangerous," said Shay Isham, Wilkerson’s attorney.

Fielder was killed while he was driving back to the high school one afternoon for track practice.

His car was broadsided by a pickup driven by Rodney Swindle, 49, of Weatherford.

Swindle and Wilkerson, who was driving a sedan, were accused of racing on South Main Street when the wreck occurred. Wilkerson and Swindle reached a bottleneck where South Main narrows to one lane.

Wilkerson pulled ahead of Swindle. Fielder turned left onto South Main from Cleburne Avenue when Swindle’s pickup struck the driver’s side door.

Fielder died two days later at a Fort Worth hospital. He was a popular student at Weatherford High, where as a senior he had been named offensive MVP for District 4-5A and was the school’s 2006 homecoming king.

In July, Swindle pleaded guilty to a charge of racing that caused a death and was sentenced to six months in jail and to 10 years of probation, a $2,000 fine and 300 hours of community service.

Dangerous roadway

Isham said jurors agreed that there was insufficient evidence to support the prosecution’s arguments that Wilkerson was racing and that he failed to stop and render aid.

Isham said his client was trying to merge on South Main, not drag racing. "Anyone could be in jail on that broad definition," Isham said of the racing law.

"I was never really concerned that the jury would find him guilty of racing. It’s a fairly new statute and doesn’t have much case law behind it," he said.

Isham said he was more concerned about the charge of failure to render aid.

In a videotaped statement made several days after the accident, Wilkerson told police he did not stop to render aid, Isham said. Wilkerson said he had passed Swindle and that he heard the crash but did not see it, the attorney said.

Wilkerson was also worried about a confrontation with Swindle and that it might hinder emergency crews.

Isham said he chose to have his client testify — a rare move when defending someone — but his client wanted to take the stand.

"My client was adamant about wanting to testify. This has been such a difficult, emotional, tragic scenario for everyone," Isham said.

First racing case

Assistant Parker County District Attorney Jeff Swain said the case was the first to be tried in Parker County under the new racing statute.

Swain said that investigators looked at a "black box" on Swindle’s pickup that showed his speed to be between 50 and 62 miles per hour five seconds before the crash.

"We tied Mr. Wilkerson’s speed to Swindle’s. That was one of the difficult places where jurors had difficulty making that transition. They couldn’t tie Mr. Wilkerson’s actions to Mr. Swindle’s," Swain said.

The prosecutor said he used the argument that two people were not racing, but that drivers want to pass other cars when merging. "Jurors felt [the racing argument] was overly broad," Swain said.

The district attorney’s office plans to approach lawmakers with more specific language regarding the racing statute, Swain said.

Swain also said attorneys want to meet with Weatherford officials to discuss the dangerous intersection of South Main, also known as Texas 51, and Cleburne Avenue.

"Having that situation leads to tragedy no matter who gets convicted," he said.