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LISBON -- The Seventh District Court of Appeals recently agreed with the conviction of Donald E. White for causing the 2021 death of 13-year-old Aidan Wollman, but ordered resentencing regarding the two charges of failure to stop after an accident.
White, 66, formerly of Salineville, is scheduled to face resentencing at 2:20 p.m. Oct. 30 before Columbiana County Common Pleas Court Judge Megan Bickerton.
In its written opinion on Sep. 28, the appellate court took issue with the trial court's decision on which of the two counts of failure to stop after an accident to use for sentencing last year since the two counts had merged for sentencing purposes.
One of the charges was a second-degree felony and one was a third-degree felony. The court chose to sentence White on the second-degree felony, resulting in an indefinite sentence of eight to 12 years.
According to the appellate court, "the state is required to elect on which count the offender is to be sentenced, not the trial court. Thus, this matter is remanded on a limited basis solely to allow the state to elect on which count to proceed with sentencing."
The rest of White's sentence was affirmed and isn't to be addressed during the limited hearing for resentencing on the failure to stop after an accident counts.
A jury last fall found White guilty of all counts related to the fatal accident, along with a drug charge. White's truck struck the back of Aidan's bicycle on state Route 164, just south of Beeson Mill Road, near Columbiana on Oct. 23, 2021 and White left the scene.
The counts against him included aggravated vehicular homicide, a third-degree felony, two charges of failure to stop after an accident, one a second-degree felony and one a third-degree felony, and possession of cocaine, a fifth-degree felony. The cocaine charge stemmed from him possessing cocaine at his residence the day after the accident.
Bickerton sentenced White to eight to 12 years on the second-degree felony failure to stop charge, 60 months on the homicide charge and 12 months on the cocaine possession. The other failure to stop charge was merged into the first one for sentencing. She ordered the terms served consecutively, for a mandatory 14 years, with the possibility of an additional four years if the parole board chooses, meaning the sentence could stretch to a possible 18 years. White's driver's license was suspended for life.
The aggravated vehicular homicide charge alleged that White caused Aidan's death by driving recklessly, with evidence presented that his truck crossed over the fog line, which is the white line at the edge of the highway. Aidan and a friend were riding on the side of the road.
In his appeal, White's appellate counsel argued the drug charge should have been tried separately from the accident-related charges, argued the convictions weren't supported by sufficient evidence and that the trial court failed to instruct the jury on a lesser-included charge.
The Seventh District Court of Appeals found no merit to the arguments, affirming the convictions.