Walmart Truck Driver in Tracy Morgan Crash Asks for Criminal Charges to Be Dismissed

Kevin Roper hadn't slept in 28 hours when he got behind the wheel of a Walmart truck June 7, 2014

Image
Photo: Steve Mack/Getty

Months after Tracy Morgan settled his civil lawsuit against Walmart stemming from last year's deadly highway wreck, the man driving a truck for the retail giant wants criminal charges against him dropped, too.

Kevin Roper, whom the National Transportation Safety Board found responsible for the crash last month, has filed for a dismissal of the charges of assault by auto and death by auto, according to ABC News. Roper previously pleaded not guilty to both.

The 35-year-old Georgia man hadn't slept in 28 hours when he got behind the wheel of a Walmart truck June 7, 2014, causing a multi-vehicle collision on the New Jersey Turnpike that left Morgan critically injured and killed his friend and fellow comedian James "Uncle Jimmy Mack" McNair.

In court documents filed in New Jersey's Middlesex County Superior Court, Roper argues he won't get a "fair trial" or "impartial jury" because of the "extensive national media coverage" surrounding the incident, NJ.com reports.

"Mr. Roper had a right to have his case decided by a jury not a mob in the street fueled by media reports innuendo and speculation," his attorney David Jay Glassman said in a statement to ABC News.

Morgan, 46, had to use a wheelchair for five months after the crash and suffered traumatic brain injuries. But things are looking up for the former 30 Rock actor: He married Megan Wollover in an intimate ceremony in August and will return to the stage when he hosts Saturday Night Live on Oct. 17.

"Megan was by my side throughout all of the hard times of this past year," Morgan told PEOPLE exclusively of their special day. "She is my rock, and I couldn't be happier to have her take my last name. We are the Morgans!"

Related Articles