John Thomas White is escorted into Don Poole’s courtroom during a sentencing hearing after pleading guilty to vehicular homicide in the death of Marie Oliver, 27, who died Jan. 6, 2010.New evidence from the defense attorney for a man charged in the 2010 dragging death of his girlfriend has pushed the rest of the man’s sentencing hearing to Nov. 8.
John Thomas White, 39, pleaded guilty in May to vehicular homicide after prosecutors originally had charged him with second-degree murder in the death of his girlfriend, 27-year-old Marie Oliver.
The vehicular homicide charge carries a three- to six-year prison term. White is in custody at the Hamilton County Jail.
On Monday, Hamilton County Criminal Court Judge Don Poole heard from witnesses called by both defense attorney Ben McGowan and Assistant District Attorney Lance Pope.
At the end of the hearing, McGowan moved to introduce an accident reconstruction report he said would give Poole more information when deciding what sentence his client would face. To introduce the evidence, the report’s creator would have to testify about how he wrote the report and be open to cross-examination by Pope. The expert is in Knoxville.
Poole said in court that “the circumstances are extremely important in this case” and rescheduled the rest of the hearing to November, when arguments will be made by each attorney supporting either an increase or decrease in the sentence.
In Monday’s hearing, Pope called Eddie Johnson, a man who knew both Oliver and Thomas and was at Critters Bar on 3222 Cummings Highway on Jan. 6, 2010, the day of the incident.
Johnson testified that he saw the couple argue at the bar, where he said he heard Thomas say, “You’ll never see your daughter again.” Thomas then walked out of the building and Oliver followed him.
Oliver and Thomas have a now 2-year-old daughter named Emma.
When he got outside, Johnson said he saw Oliver grabbing the back passenger side of Thomas’ truck and hollering, “Let me have my kid back.”
Thomas drove out of the lot and down Cummings Highway. Johnson said he followed in his truck and saw one of Oliver’s shoes fly up before she slipped beneath Thomas’ truck as it rolled over her.
Johnson said Thomas did not slow or stop his truck. Johnson testified that he stopped and, when he got to Oliver, she was dead.
But McGowan challenged testimony from two previous hearings in which Johnson testified. He questioned if Johnson could have seen the incident at all based on the speed he said he drove and the distance covered by Thomas — about 2,000 feet.
Contact staff writer Todd South at tsouth@timesfree press.com or 423-757-6347.