Noah Motto found not guilty of vehicular homicide and leaving scene of a crash with death

Noah Motto was found not guilty Tuesday in the fatal crash that killed his girlfriend, Ericka Dane. A jury found him guilty of the lesser charge of reckless driving.

Circuit Judge Raul Zambrano sentenced him to the 198 days time-served on the misdemeanor reckless driving charge. Motto was released at 5:21 p.m. Tuesday from the Volusia County Jail, where he has been held since March 3.

Motto, 23, was charged in Dane's death with leaving the scene of a crash with death and vehicular homicide/fail to give aid or information, both first-degree felonies. Motto would have faced up to 60 years in prison had he been convicted of the two charges.

Motto’s attorneys patted him on the back as the verdict was announced. Motto stood upright and showed no reaction.

Dane’s family did not show any reaction in the courtroom, although one woman buried her face in her hands.

The judge had instructed against having an emotional outburst once the verdict was read. After the judge and jury had left the courtroom, Motto’s family members and lawyers embraced.

The jury of five men and one woman began deliberating at about 9:30 a.m. Tuesday. Shortly after 11 a.m., they asked to review an enhanced video of the incident and a video of Motto at a 7-11 afterward.

The jurors told the judge they were deadlocked shortly after 1 p.m. The judge asked them to return to the jury room and discuss the case; he said if they remained deadlocked, he would declare a mistrial. Jurors reached a verdict shortly after 2 p.m.

Jurors declined to comment to The News-Journal.

Walking out of the courthouse Tuesday, Dane's mother, Penny Dane, was asked for a comment.

"I just don't understand," she responded.

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What happened on March 24, 2021?

Motto and Dane, 18, had joined another couple on March 23, 2021, for what had become a tradition of Taco Tuesday at an Ormond Beach restaurant. Then they got in Motto's truck, drove to a Walmart to get some pallets for a bonfire and then stopped at a RaceTrac to buy alcohol before heading to the bonfire.

After the bonfire, the four returned to Dane's house in Ormond Beach and the other couple left. Dane wanted Motto to spend the night, but Motto did not want to. He got into his truck and left, taking a looping road to leave the neighborhood.

Dane walked down the street from her home to Greenvale Drive and Ormond Green Boulevard.

Motto's truck approached the intersection about 2:30 a.m. on March 24, 2021. Prosecutors Erica Kane and Kevin Sullivan played an enhanced home security video which showed Dane waiting for the truck. When the truck stopped, Dane walked up to passenger side of the vehicle. The video shows the truck accelerating and driving away. And it shows Dane falling alongside the truck, an arm in the air.

Dane suffered a fatal skull fracture, according to testimony. She also suffered a spinal cord injury along with other injuries, including to her right arm, her right thigh and hip area, and one of her buttocks.

Experts differ on whether Motto hit Dane with his truck

Volusia County Medical Examiner James Fulcher testified last week that he believed Dane was hit by Motto’s truck, likely a tire, and propelled forward.

Prosecutor Sullivan said in his closing that Motto stopped the truck, Dane walked up to talk to him and then he punched the accelerator. Sullivan said a smear along the right side of the truck led down to the right rear tire where law enforcement said they found Dane's DNA.

Sullivan said that Dane either hung onto the truck's door handle or got hung up on it before falling as the truck accelerated.

Motto's defense team of attorneys – Lily McCarty, Todd Foster and Melissa Snyder – argued that Dane never came in contact with the truck.

McCarty argued in her closing that prosecutors had not proven that Dane had come in contact with the truck. She argued that prosecutors had not proven that Motto knew that anything had happened to Dane.

The defense called Stephen Nelson, the chief medical examiner for Florida's 10th Judicial Circuit, who testified that the truck did not strike Dane. Nelson said that all the injuries Dane suffered were from falling to the ground as she walked or ran.

The defense also called accident reconstructionist Christopher Stewart, who testified that he did not think Dane was struck by the truck or was run over. Stewart testified that, based on evidence he reviewed, Dane ran alongside the truck, reaching a maximum speed of 14 mph before the truck started pulling ahead and she fell down.

In his closing argument, Sullivan said that Dane was intoxicated and that would have affected her ability to run. According to testimony, Dane had a blood alcohol content of 0.196, which was more than twice the legal limit to operate a vehicle.

Motto's friend testified Dane was upset about her broken phone

Motto’s friend, Randy Ross, testified earlier in the trial, giving an account of what happened that night.

Under questioning by Prosecutor Kane, Ross said that Taco Tuesday was a tradition for the four.

Ross said that on March 23, 2021, Motto had his Chevrolet Silverado tuned to make it faster, more powerful and to improve gas mileage.

He described the interaction between Motto and Dane that night as “just a little bit of bickering, nothing too crazy.”

Dane lost her phone during the night and the group later found it shattered. Dane, who played soccer for Daytona State College, was upset.

“She was upset about her phone,” Ross said. “She was saying that she had some stuff to do tomorrow for soccer and everything, so she was really stressing about what she was gonna do, you know, and obviously upset that her phone was broken.”

After the bonfire, they returned to Dane’s house, and Ross and the girl he was with left.

Ross testified that after returning to his house, he received a phone call from a friend who told him that Dane was dead.

He said it was “surprising” and “crazy.”

Kane asked Ross whether he told Motto what he heard about Dane and what was Motto’s reaction.

“Yes, he seemed lost and wasn’t sure what’s going on,” Ross said of Motto.

Kane asked if Motto told him what had happened.

McCarty objected and Zambrano overruled her objection.

“He said that he was leaving,” Ross said. “He had to go to work early in the morning so he couldn't stay the night. And she wasn't happy about that. And that he left.”

Ross said Motto told him Dane approached his truck at the intersection. 

“As he was leaving, she ran up and was trying to bang on the door and trying to get him to stay and was screaming at him and stuff,” Ross said.

Ross said that Motto told him he left.

“Did he tell you anything regarding the door and what she was doing with the door handle,” Kane asked.

“He just said she was yanking on it, trying to get in,” Ross said.

During cross examination, McCarty asked Ross more about Motto’s demeanor.

“Did he sound genuinely shocked when you talked to him?” McCarty asked.

“He did, yes, he did. He sounded like he didn’t know what was going on,” Ross said.

Kane objected at times during McCarty's questioning, but was overruled.

McCarty asked Ross if he was unsure of some of the details of his conversation with Motto.

“Yes,” Ross replied.

On redirect, Kane asked Ross if Motto had told him “what had happened that could have caused Erica’s death.”

“Yes,” Ross said as McCarty objected and was overruled.

This article originally appeared on The Daytona Beach News-Journal: Ormond Beach man not guilty of killing his girlfriend in crash