Misdemeanor

vehicular homicide charges against a Peachtree City man were dropped Monday

afternoon, several hours into the trial against him in Fayette County

State Court.

The charges

were dropped against David C. Rogers, 40, minutes after a medical witness

in the case told State Court Solicitor General Steve Harris that a mistake

may have been made on the death certificate of the victim, Mary Ruth Prince,

61, of Tyrone.

Prince died

in the hospital Dec. 9, 16 days after the auto accident, of an infection

which Dr. F. Augustus Dozier originally attributed to injuries from the

crash. But moments before he was to take the stand, Dozier said that after

looking at Prince's medical file, the infection might have been caused

Harris was

expecting Dozier to testify that the crash caused the injuries that killed

Prince, based on what Dozier put on her death certificate which he signed,

Harris noted. Instead, Dozier told Harris there was "no certainty

at all" that Prince's death was caused by injuries received during

the auto collision.

After the charge

was dropped, Rogers pled no contest to failure to stop at a stop sign.

Sams sentenced him to 12 months of non-reporting probation and a $1,000

fine, the maximum allowed by law.

Relatives of

Mrs. Prince were visibly upset at the outcome, with a man who said he

was her son complaining that Rogers has expressed no remorse for the accident.

Rogers told

the court that Prince's family is constantly in his prayers.

"Regardless

of the outcome today I'll have to carry that with me for the rest of my

life," Rogers said. "There's no way I can express how sorry

I am to the family."

The crash occurred

Dec. 9 at the intersection of Ardenlee and Ga. Highway 74 north. Prince

was coherent at the accident scene but was later found to have internal

injuries, a Peachtree City paramedic testified Monday.

Rogers had

pulled out into the path of Prince's vehicle, which was headed south on

the highway, as Rogers tried to drive into Ardenlee, Harris said. Prince's

car slammed head-on into the passenger's side of Rogers's sport utility

vehicle, Harris said.

Rogers's attorney,

Scott Ballard, said Rogers and his son recalled seeing the right turn

signal activated on Prince's vehicle and Rogers assumed she was slowing

down to turn when he proceeded through the intersection.

Harris said

he felt bad for Prince's family, but as an officer of the law he had little

choice but to drop the vehicular homicide charge.

"I have

an obligation to the family but I also think I have an obligation to justice,"

Harris told Sams before dropping the charges.