Robert Rice, Jr. has been found guilty of two counts of vehicular manslaughter and several other charges. Prince George’s County Circuit Court Judge Maureen Lamasney handed down the ruling Thursday afternoon after a three-day trial before her. She ordered a pre-sentence investigation with sentencing scheduled for November 14.
Rice, 35, of Great Mills was accused of negligent manslaughter by motor vehicle for the deaths of two women in an August 4, 2011 accident in Callaway. According to uncontradicted testimony, Rice rear ended two cars before crossing the center line and slamming into a third car killing the driver and passenger.
But the trial revolved around whether Rice was aware of his actions. The crux of the defense case was that Rice, who suffers from Type 1 diabetes, was in a hypoglycemic emergency. Dr. Robert Tanneberg, a professor at East Carolina University and a diabetes expert, testified, “The case is completely explainable 100 percent by hypoglycemia and hypoglycemia unawareness.” A paramedic at the scene tested Rice upon arrival at the scene and he had a reading of 51; a reading of below 70 is considered to be an indication of hypoglycemia (low blood sugar).
But Judge Lamasney pointed to the importance of testimony by several witnesses that Rice stopped at a traffic light at Route 5 and 249, that he rolled down his window and gave the driver the finger after having rammed her car, and that after the final impact he asked the first person on the scene: “Get me out of the car.”
The judge said there’s a basic tenant in this country: “Every person is responsible for his or her actions. There are few exceptions.” She said the crimes charged do not require proof of specific intent. She told Rice’s attorney James Farmer that it seemed as if he was trying to prove a defense of “not criminally responsible” yet nothing had been filed on that defense.
In her closing argument Assistant State’s Attorney Laura Caspar said that a witness had seen an expression on Rice’s face that showed “he had done something bad.” She said that showed a consciousness of guilt. She went through a recitation of the chain of events that she said showed he was aware of what he was doing.
But Dr. Tanneberg in his testimony recited a number of cases in which diabetics with hypoglycemia driving cars long distances and not remembering it after being brought out with glucose. He testified to several cases in which people had been killed in crashes in similar situations and also the diabetic had been killed.
Dr. Tanneberg treated Rice at the age of 7 at his then Prince George’s County office and continued to treat him until the doctor moved to North Carolina. He said emphatically that Rice had no awareness of what he was doing. “That’s why I drove 300 miles, to tell you
