Thursday, Jan. 4, 2007 | 7:02 a.m.
The driver of a garbage truck that tipped over and killed a teenage motorist two years ago embraced the dead girl's mother outside of North Las Vegas Justice Court on Wednesday, pledging to join her campaign to improve commercial truck safety.
Moments earlier, former Republic Services driver Richard C. Hall, 35, waived his right to a preliminary hearing on charges stemming from the death of 19-year-old Ashley Swain on Dec. 26, 2004, and agreed instead to face gross misdemeanor charges before a District Court judge in two weeks.
The embrace between Hall and Swain's mother, Angela Ipock, seemed to close a painful, frustrating ordeal through the local justice system.
Nine continuances have been granted since Hall's July 2005 arraignment as the district attorney's office and Hall's attorney grappled with what both considered a difficult and emotional case.
Through it all, Ipock and Hall forged a seemingly unlikely bond and friendship.
And although they finally met face to face just two weeks ago - after each expressed to attorneys a desire to meet the other - they have agreed to crusade together to improve commercial truck safety.
"It took a lot of soul-searching, but I forgave Richard before I met him, and I had an instant rapport with him when we met," Ipock said Wednesday. She called Hall a remorseful family man who, like her, wants to prompt change in the trucking industry, where the number of unsafe, overweight vehicles has significantly increased on local roads in recent years.
Originally charged in June 2005 with felony counts of involuntary manslaughter and reckless driving stemming from the collision at Interstate 15 and Cheyenne Avenue, Hall instead will face gross misdemeanor charges of conspiracy to drive an overweight vehicle and conspiracy to commit involuntary manslaughter.
On the day of the accident, Swain, in her Chevrolet Suburban, was stopped at a traffic light at an I-15 offramp about two miles from her North Las Vegas home. Hall's garbage truck went out of control and overturned onto Swain's vehicle.
Hall, through his attorney, had maintained that he violated no statute, operated his vehicle in a legal manner and that neither he nor Republic Services knew his truck was overweight by 18,000 pounds.
Prosecutors had the burden of proving that Hall knew his truck was overweight and that he operated the vehicle in an "unlawful and criminally negligent manner," as was alleged in the original criminal complaint.
The felony charges could have landed Hall in prison for six years and resulted in a $10,000 fine. The new charges likely will mean a smaller fine, probation and community service, Hall's attorney says.
North Las Vegas Justice of the Peace Stephen Dahl ordered the case to go before District Judge Joseph Bonaventure at 10:30 a.m. on Jan. 17, when the judge can either go along with the plea agreement or hand down a stiffer sentence, including prison time.
Ipock, who drives 63 miles from her home in Pahrump to attend the hearings, says she will ask the judge for leniency for Hall, who now drives a truck for another company.
Swain, who was a basketball standout at Chaparral High and a food runner at the MGM Grand, became a face on the issue of overweight trucks in Southern Nevada.
Her mother and father, Thomas Swain, became advocates for toughening Nevada's laws to ensure that big rigs on streets and highways are safe and drivers are better trained.
After Wednesday's hearing, Ipock, with Hall and their family members at her side, announced that she and Hall plan to speak together at schools and civic clubs about the dangers of overweight and poorly maintained tractor-trailers.
Hall's attorney Alan Buttell said his client wanted to bring about a resolution to the case as "an effort of goodwill and understanding" with Swain's family and work with them to bring about change so that Swain will not have died in vain.
Last year Republic Services settled a civil suit filed by the Swain family for nearly $2 million, leaving only the long-standing criminal case to be resolved.
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