Ex-Prosecutor Asks for Pardon in Fatal GM Crash

HOUSTON (AP/STAFF) � A former prosecutor has asked a Texas agency to pardon a woman who pleaded guilty in a 2004 car crash that killed her fiance but which her attorney says was caused by a faulty General Motors ignition switch. Candice Anderson pleaded guilty and was sentenced to five years of probation for the death of her finance, Gene Mikale Erikson, in an East Texas crash.

In November, 2004, Anderson was driving a 2004 Saturn Ion when the car suddenly veered off a road and ran into a tree in Van Zandt County. Because there were no skid marks, authorities believed Anderson was at fault and charged her with negligent homicide, according to the lawsuit. Believing she was to blame, she pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 5 years of deferred punishment and 260 hours of community service. She also was required to pay for Erikson’s funeral and $3,500 in court costs, according to a spokeswoman for her lawyer, Robert Hilliard.

Robert Hilliard, Anderson’s attorney, says the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration in May confirmed to Erikson’s mother the crash was caused by the bad switch. In a letter to the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles, Leslie Poynter Dixon, the former Van Zandt County district attorney, said she would have dismissed the case if she had known the crash’s true cause.