Carson City lawyer will face trial in fatal hit-run case

Tuesday, June 17, 1997 | 11:59 a.m.

In an order handed down on Friday, the justices unanimously dismissed a petition filed by Audrey Damonte.

The ruling came only a week after the appeal was filed by Damonte's attorney, Bill Maddox, and clears the way for her to face trial.

Damonte, 32, was driving north on U.S. 395 in Carson City when she struck and killed pedestrian Don Ferris on Dec. 10.

Witnesses said Damonte stopped the vehicle, opened the door slightly, then left the scene.

She turned herself in until hours later, after her Jeep broke down on her way home to Reno from damage caused by the collision.

Damonte has claimed that she drove away because she did not know she had struck a person.

Carson City Justice of the Peace John Tatro dismissed the felony charge following a preliminary hearing in March, saying he believed Damonte was unaware that she had hit Ferris.

District Attorney Noel Waters appealed and the charge was reinstated in May by Senior District Judge Carl Christensen.

Police reports said Ferris was wearing dark clothing, was outside a crosswalk and was legally intoxicated. Damonte admitted to having a few drinks that evening, but blood tests taken hours after the accident showed her driving ability wasn't impaired.

Waters has said Damonte likely would not have been charged if she had remained at the scene.

But he has argued that she was required under Nevada law to stop and investigate the accident regardless of whether she believed the object she hit was a person.

Christensen scheduled trial for Sept. 29, but Maddox said he may ask for an earlier trial date now that the Supreme Court has issued its ruling.

Maddox added he expects Damonte to testify in her own defense.

"I expect her to take the stand and I expect her to be a phenomenal witness," he told the Reno-Gazette Journal.