A Palo Alto woman could go to prison after being convicted Friday in Schuylkill County Court of running over a Saint Clair woman in December and not helping her in any way.
Joan Trayah, 63, is guilty of accident involving death or personal injury, the jury ruled after deliberating fewer than 30 minutes.
Judge Charles M. Miller, who presided over the one-day trial, found Trayah guilty of three summary offenses: failure to stop and give information or render aid, failure to yield to pedestrians on sidewalks and careless driving.
Miller ordered preparation of a presentence investigation and scheduled Trayah's sentencing for 9:30 a.m. Dec. 11.
Saint Clair police had charged Trayah with striking Ho Ching Lan on Dec. 12, 2011, with her Chevrolet Equinox sport utility vehicle on the sidewalk at the entrance to The Buckhorn Cafe in the borough.
" 'I heard a thump, thump ... then heard someone moaning,' " was how Trayah described what happened, borough police Patrolman William M. Dempsey testified.
Trayah also wrote in that statement that she saw another police officer in the cafe but told him nothing of what had occurred, according to Dempsey.
" 'I knew I should have told him but I was scared,' " was what Trayah gave as her reason for that, Dempsey said.
Dempsey also testified that Trayah "was upset and apologetic" when she arrived at the police station the day after the incident.
"She was crying. She was scared. She was breaking down in the middle of it," Dempsey said of Trayah's demeanor while writing her statement at the station.
Dempsey also said that Trayah's SUV sustained no damage in the incident.
In his closing argument, Gary D. Marchalk, Tamaqua, Trayah's lawyer, said his client never intended to leave the scene and did not know she had hit anyone until later.
"Once she knew she was the one who struck the lady, she admitted it," he said.
Furthermore, Marchalk said, Trayah would not have entered the cafe, which is where she worked, if she had wanted to flee the scene.
"In her mind, she didn't do anything," Marchalk said.
However, Assistant District Attorney Rebecca A. Elo successfully argued that a video of the incident proved that Trayah knew or should have known she hit someone.
"She knows that she has just hit something," Elo said. "There are no other cars around."
Trayah also told police that she was petrified, and Elo said that meant only one thing.
"She was petrified because she just hit a woman in the parking lot," Elo said. "She had a duty to get her the help she needed. She saw a woman in the exact spot where the 'thump, thump' was."Defendant: Joan Trayah
Age: 63
Residence: Palo Alto
Crimes committed: Accident involving death or personal injury, the jury rule after deliberating less than 30 minutes.
Judge Charles M. Miller, who presided over the one-day trial, found Trayah guilty of three summary offenses: failure to stop and give information or render aid, failure to yield to pedestrians on sidewalks and careless driving
