Jury acquits man in murder
A jury determines Tuong Nguyen did not fatally shoot a man at a Greensboro pool hall.
By Eric Collins, Staff Writer
Excerpt taken from Greensboro News and Record Dated – Saturday, December 11, 2004

During closing arguments, Culbertson contended that the state’s eyewitnesses – some of whom spoke little English – had changed their stories at trial to point the finger at Nguyen.

Greensboro – A man in custody for more than a year and a half in connection with a fatal shooting at a Greensboro pool hall was acquitted Friday of a first-degree murder charge.
It took a jury about three hours to determine that Tuong Nguyen, 24, did not kill 29-year-old Yjuen Kpor outside Phong’s Billards on April 6, 2003.
Superior Court Judge John O. Craig III asked sheriff’s deputies if they could see to Nguyen’s release from custody at the Guilford County jail Friday night.
Nguyen’s attorney, Krispen Culbertson, said he believed the lack of consistency in the statements of eyewitnesses to the shooting most likely swayed the jury.
“I think that might have been decisive,” he said.
Jurors left through a back hallway in the courthouse and could not be reached for comment Friday night.
The shooting occurred after a confrontation erupted at the pool hall at 2100 Patterson St. It’s unclear what started the ruckus, though several people inside had had prior fights.
Prosecutors had contended that during the scuffle, Nguyen grabbed a gun from his friend Shannon Peeden before running outside and firing at Kpor and his brother Ypuen Kpor.
Ypuen Kpor was shot through the bicep into his right side. His brother was shot twice through the back and in the back of his leg.
“He was running away when the shooting began,” said Ken Free, the Guilford assistant district attorney who prosecuted the case.
Yjuen Kpor was driven to Moses Cone Hospital, when he later died.
Nguyen left the area after the shooting and was arrested a few weeks later in Ohio. He waived extradition, was brought back to the county and remained in custody on a high bond while awaiting his trial.
After the shooting, police recovered one of the bullets that hit the victim, Free said. It was found in the care that was used to take the man to the hospital. Free said they connected the bullet to Peeden’s gun after she later turned it in to police.
During closing arguments, Culbertson contended that the state’s eyewitnesses – some of whom spoke little English – had changed their stories at trial to point the finger at Nguyen.
And others had fired shots that night, including the owner of the pool hall, he told the jury.
No one could be sure that Nguyen and not someone else had fired the fatal bulled, Culbertson said.
“We don’t know what happened,” he said.
Contact Eric Collins at 373-7077 or ecollins@news-record.com

Parents reach settlement for son’s injuries By Mike Fuchs Staff Writer
Exerpt taken from Greensboro News & Record

(Name deleted by request of client) will require more surgery for injuries but the school system was not held liable, said Krispen Culbertson, the family's’ attorney.

GREENSBORO – (Name deleted by request of client) assumed their 5-year-old son was safely on his way to school one fall morning in 1999. But that assumption soon turned into shock when they learned he was nearly killed in a car wreck.
Robert Donaldson, a driver whose company the school hired to take (Name deleted by request of client) and other out-of-the-way students to school, smashed his car into a telephone pole on Oct. 6, 1999.
Benjamin, now 7, suffered massive injuries to his nose and intestines, his parents said. He still needs more plastic surgery to repair his nose, they said.
Donaldson, who had been convicted earlier in 1999 of speeding in a school zone and running a red llight, was convicted in April 2000 of failing to reduce speed to avoid an accident, Guilford County court records stated.
This week, the family reached a $205,000, out-of-court settlement with Walaram, Donaldson’s employer.
"We are lucky that he is still alive," said (Name deleted by request of client), 42. "I trusted my child to a person who has multiple traffic violations and the school board didn’t even know about it."The Jamestown couple had also sued the Guilford County Board of Education for hiring Walaram.
But the school system was not held liable, said Krispen Culbertson, the family's’ attorney.
Under the terms of the settlement reached Monday, Walaram and Donaldson, who was also named as a defendant in the suit, continued to deny any liability, according to the Guilford County Superior Court records.
Stratford Insurance Company, Walaram’s insurer, has agreed to pay the settlement, records stated.
Although a settlement was reached, the family said they are upset the school system has not been held accountable for the accident.
School broad attorney Jill Wilson said the reason the school system was not held accountable was because the school system did nothing wrong. In the eight years the school system has contracted some of its services, Wilson said she couldn’t recall a single incident where the school system jeopardized students’ safety.
Wilson said companies such as Walaram are required to notify the school system if a driver commits a traffic infraction."This guy had a traffic citation that wasn’t reported to us and he was fired by Walaram," Wilson said. "He should not have been driving."
Waheed Tijani, owner of Walaram, said he was unaware of Donaldson’s prior traffic convictions. "I don’t have access to DMV records," Tijani said."At the time we hired him, his record was clean. The time he had an accident, I fired him."
Donaldson declined to comment Wednesday.Tijani said his company provides a safe and reliable service for students who have to travel far distances to get to school.
In Benjamin’s case, he had to go about 18 miles to Jones Elementary, a magnet school he was attending in Greensboro (Name deleted by request of client) said.
"Instead of rerouting a bus to come and pick him up at a later time, they preferred to offer us a car service to come and pick Benjamin up and bring him to school, which we greatly appreciated," (Name deleted by request of client) said.
"He had to wake up at 5 a.m. to be ready" for the bus.
Walaram’s contract with the school system expires June 30. The school system opted not to renew Walaram’s contract because it lost out during the bidding process and had nothing to do with the accident, school spokesperson Derran Eaddy said.

DWI case in fatality turns on gas tank
By Eric Collins
Staff Writer
News & Record - May 15, 2005

The defense says the tank’s location led to the fiery deaths of three women.

GREENSBORO – A man charged with driving drunk, crashing into a limousine and killing three women in 2003 is blaming the deaths on a faulty fuel tank.
The force of the crash did not kill the women, defense attorney Krispen Culbertson argues in court filings. It was the gas tank’s improper placement on the limousine – among other issues – that caused the vehicle to explode on impact, igniting a fire that killed the trio, he contends.
Jurors likely will hear this defense as Culbertson’s client goes on trial Monday on charges of murder.
Jeffrey Niles McFayden, 36, is accused of killing Cornelius resident Tara Howell Parker, 29, whose husband is NASCAR driver Dale Jarrett’s former crew chief.
Parker’s stepsister, Mysti Howell Poplin, 24, and her half sister, Megan Elizabeth Howell, 16, also died in the crash. Both were from Mocksville
McFayden, formerly of 4107 Chateau Drive in Greensboro, is facing three counts of second-degree murder and one count of driving while intoxicated.
The crash happened late Sept. 10, 2003, after the women attended a rock concert at the Greensboro Coliseum.
They were heading west out of the city on Interstate 40 when heavy traffic and construction forced the limousine to stop near the Vanstory Street overpass.
Police said McFayden’s Ford F-150 pickup then slammed into the back of the limousine at an estimated 60 mph.
Police say McFayden had a blood-alcohol content of 0.17 after the crash. That is more than twice the legal limit.
Police said the collision ruptured the limousine’s gas tank, sparking a fire that killed the women.
The state medical examiner’s office determined that the women died of burns and smoke inhalation, court records indicate. Parker also suffered blunt-force chest injuries.
But those injuries were not life-threatening, Culbertson argues in court filings. And, he says in those documents, a witness saw the women alive and suffering no serious injuries immediately after the crash.
In court papers, Culbertson says experts could testify McFayden had no way to know that crashing into the limousine would rupture the gas tank, ignite a fire and kill the women. At the most, McFayden is guilty of voluntary manslaughter, he claims.
Prosecutors declined to comment on the case Friday.
But court documents reveal that they have argued that the deaths were a natural consequence of McFayden driving drunk and causing a crash.
Prosecutors must prove that McFayden killed the women “with malice’ to secure a second-degree murder conviction. They can use his driving record as evidence of malice; he was convicted in 1999 of drunken driving.
Culbertson interviewed by telephone Thursday, said he believes McFayden is facing stiffer charges than is warranted in the case.
“This is a situation where somebody could be viewed as unpopular because of the consequences of something that was basically beyond his control,” he said.
Culbertson’s argument is not unique.
The women’s families also blame the limousine’s gas tank in a pending lawsuit they have filed against Ford Motor Co.
The lawsuit alleges that the limousine, a 1998 Lincoln Town Car manufactured by Ford, was defective because the fuel tank was behind the rear axle. That made it more likely to leak if hit from behind, the lawsuit claims.
Family members reached Friday declined to comment on the case.
The Town Car’s fuel tank is in the same place as in Ford’s Crown Victoria, which has drawn criticism from national police organizations in recent years.
Police commonly use Crown Victorias as squad cars.
Since 1983, more than a dozen officers have died in high-speed, rear-end collisions that caused gas tanks to explode.
In response, Ford retrofitted metal shields under its police-package Crown Victorias to protect the fuel tanks.
Some have claimed Ford should have taken similar precautions with the Town Car.
Hearing that argument, an Illinois jury awarded $43.7 million last month to the family of a man who died after his Town Car was struck from behind and caught fire, The Associated Press reported.
The family’s lawyer claimed the fuel tank’s placement behind the rear axle increased the risk of fire in a crash.
Ford officials have defended the vehicle’s design and safety.
In court documents, Culbertson contends that the Illinois case is identical to what happened in Greensboro. He plans to call an expert in fuel-injection systems to testify on McFayden’s behalf.
McFayden has remained in the Guilford County jail on $800,000 bond pending his trial.

Jury in Fatal Crash Starts to Deliberate
By Ellica Church
Staff Writer
News & Record - May 20, 2005

Jeffrey Niles McFayden is on trial in the deaths of three women who died in a fiery vehicle collision.

Greensboro – Jurors will continue deliberations today in the trial of a man charged with killing three women while he was driving drunk.
The jury began deliberating Thursday afternoon but hadn’t reached a verdict after 2 1/2 hours. Jurors have been asked to determine whether Jeffrey Niles McFayden is guilty of second-degree murder, involuntary manslaughter or not guilty in each of the three deaths.
McFayden, 36, also is charged with driving while impaired.
The three women were stopped in traffic on Interstate 40 in Greensboro on Sept. 10, 2003, after attending a concert. McFayden’s pickup crashed into the back of their limousine, which exploded almost immediately and trapped them inside.
Tara Howell Parker, 29, her stepsister Mysti Howell Poplin, 24, and her half sister Megan Elizabeth Howell, 16, died of smoke inhalation and burns suffered in the fire.
McFayden’s attorney, Krispen Culbertson, has argued the fire sparked by a leak from the limo’s gas tank resulted in the women’s deaths, not McFayden crashing into the limo.
In court papers, Culbertson outlined his argument that improper placement of the gas tank caused the explosion. He was allowed to introduce testimony about the gas leak that caused the explosion in this case.
But the judge limited the evidence indicating a pattern of fatalities due to fires caused in the rear-end collisions involving certain models of Ford vehicles.
Dr. John D. Butts, the state’s chief medical examiner, testified that the women would have surveyed the crash had the fire not happened.
“The crash itself killed nobody,” Culbertson said to the jury in his closing argument. “It’s important that your remember that. The fire caused the deaths.”
McFayden never set out to intentionally harm anyone, Culbertson said.
McFayden did not testify in the trial.
Howard Neumann, Guilford County’s chief assistant district attorney, painted a sharply different picture of McFayden.
McFayden was intoxicated and got behind the wheel without any regard for human life, Neumann said. McFayden’s blood-alcohol level after the crash was 0.17, according to court papers.
Several drivers who witnessed the explosion testified McFayden’s truck sped past them the night of the crash and didn’t stop for the halted traffic.
McFayden cried and was upset when told at the magistrate’s office he faced charges of second-degree murder, according to testimony. Before then, he seemed more concerned with damage to his truck and the risk of losing his job, Neumann said.
“This case shows you someone who didn’t give a damn about anyone other than himself,” Neumann said.
McFayden’s 1999 conviction for driving while impaired after a single-vehicle accident indicated that he acted with malice, Neumann said.
Proving that McFayden acted with malice is necessary to secure a second-degree murder conviction.
About 14 members of McFayden’s family sat directly across the aisle from about 25 friends and relatives of the three women during closing statements.
They often sat with their arms around one another’s shoulders. But members of the two families didn’t speak to one another.
McFayden’s family quietly filed out of the courtroom after the closing statements.
Relatives of the tree women dabbed their tears with tissues or their hands, consoling one another with hugs after Neumann spoke of the women trapped in the burning limo.
“The girls were having the time of their lives,” Neumann said. “It didn’t have to be the last time of their lives.”

The fiery wreck killed three sisters who were riding in a limousine after attending a concert in September 2003.

By Ellica Church
Staff Writer
News & Record

Greensboro -A Greensboro man was sentenced to at least 57 months in prison Friday after a jury convicted him of driving while impaired and three counts of involuntary manslaughter in the deaths of three sisters in September 2003.
Jeffrey Niles McFayden, 36, was charged with second-degree murder after the sisters died in a car fire that started when McFayden’s truck hit their limousine.
After McFayden’s conviction on the lesser charge, Guilford County Superior Court Judge Steve A. Balog sentenced McFayden to between 19 and 23 months in prison for the death of each sister – Tara Howell Parker, 29, Mysti Howell Poplin, 24, and Megan Elizabeth Howell, 16.
But he said the maximum sentence allowed by law didn’t seem sufficient.
“If it’s a tragedy, it’s a tragedy of McFayden’s own making,” Balog said. “We’ll continue to see these accidents on our highways until people realize that you can’t drive on these highways drunk without consequences.”
The victims’ families and the prosecutor, Howard Neumann, were disappointed with the jury’s verdict, which came after seven hours of deliberation.
“I can’t imagine to the smallest degree what this family has suffered,” said Neumann, chief Guilford County assistant district attorney.
“I’ve done this a long time, and I’ve never seen a tragedy like this before.”
The three sisters were riding in a limousine after a concert at the Greensboro Coliseum. Their limo was stopped in traffic on Interstate 40 near the Vanstory Street overpass the night of September 10, 2003.
McFayden’s Ford F-150 pickup crashed into the back of the limo, sparking a fire and trapping the sisters inside. All three died from burns and smoke inhalation.
Though McFayden didn’t testify during the trial, he apologized to the family of the three sisters, his own family and the community.
“It will not happen again,” he said tearfully during sentencing. “ I prayed and prayed for forgiveness.”
Eleven members of his family, sitting behind the defense table, began crying during his statement.
More than two dozen members of the Howell family, who sat across the aisle, were still overcome with emotion after hearing the verdict.
And that last statement from McFayden brought more tears. Several buried their heads in their hands or in the arms of nearby relatives.
The difference between the second-degree murder charge and involuntary manslaughter turned on whether McFayden acted with malice when he got behind the wheel of his truck while intoxicated.
After the accident, he was found to have a blood alcohol level of 0.17, more than twice the legal limit.
Balog said the sentences for involuntary manslaughter would run consecutively and allow for time served. McFayden has been in jail since the crash happened in September 2003.
The judge also recommended he enroll in substance abuse counseling while in prison.
Defense attorney Krispen Culbertson planned to introduce evidence linking the deaths to improper placement of the gas tank in specific models of Ford vehicles.
Placement of the gas tank behind the rear axle – including the 1998 Lincoln Town Car limo – increased chances the gas tank would leak and catch fire if the vehicle were struck from behind, Culbertson argued.
But the judge limited that testimony, only allowing into evidence damage to the gas tank in this crash.
Neumann argued the deaths resulted from McFayden driving drunk and running into the limo.
McFayden’s 1999 conviction for driving while intoxicated was used as evidence of malice.
Neumann got choked up several times as he told the court about the three sisters: the high school student and the two wives and mothers.
“It’s just a terrible tragedy,” he said. “No verdict they (the jury) could have brought back could have undone the tragic events of that night.”
Family members of the sisters declined to comment in detail about the verdict.
The jury reached the right decision in the case, Culbertson said during sentencing.
He said that McFayden, a father of two teenage sons, never intended to hurt anyone.
His mother, Minnie McFayden, said the family was concerned about the judge’s decision to limit testimony to support her son’s defense.
Their family is thankful McFayden wasn’t convicted of murder, she said, but also mindful of the feelings of the Howell family.
“We do have a lot of sympathy for their family, we understand that they have a loss,” Minnie McFayden said.

Davidson school board is sued over allegation
Parent assails handling of sex-abuse claim

By Laura Giovanelli, Reporter
Winston Salem Journal
January 5, 2005

The lawsuit was filed Dec. 20 in Davidson Superior Court by the boy’s mother and is a “protection of his future as a student and as a young man,” said Krispen Culbertson, the mother’s attorney.

Lexington – A Davidson County woman is suing the county school board because she says that the school system mishandled an allegation that her 10-year-old son sexually abused a fellow student at Wallburg Elementary School last year.
Although a subsequent investigation by school officials and county social workers found no evidence of abuse, school officials told the boy’s parent that the incident will remain on the boy’s school record and with the Davidson County Department of Social Services, following him through school until he graduates or turns 18.
The lawsuit was filed Dec. 20 in Davidson Superior Court by the boy’s mother and is a “protection of his future as a student and as a young man,” said Krispen Culbertson, the mother’s attorney.
The mother’s name has been withheld so as not to identify the child.
Marcia Jobe, a guidance counselor at Wallburg, reported the boy to the county social-services department in March 2004 after a third-grader accused the then-fourth-grader of sexually assaulting him. Social workers and school officials questioned the accused boy, even though “very early in the process of the investigation of the allegations, the other child’s father admitted that his son had not been forthcoming,” the lawsuits says.
The alleged victim also admitted that the accusations were not true, the lawsuit says.
In a letter dated April 7, the social-services department reported that the abuse was unfounded. But school officials told the boy’s parents that the accusations will remain on his record for nearly the next eight years.
The school system refused to destroy school records in accordance with its interpretation of state school and social-services laws, the lawsuit says.
In addition to the toll of the investigation itself, the boy will have to live with its ramifications the rest of his academic career, Culbertson says.
“Clearly his record is going to be accessed by school officials the rest of his life,” he said. “Their concern is that he might be treated differently.”
Culbertson would not say if the boy still attends Wallburg or when the incident was alleged to have occurred.
The lawsuit argues that the incident has already had a lasting effect on the boy’s personality and behavior. Since last year, the boy has become angry and quiet and unwilling to go outside or to play with other children, the lawsuit says. The family is asking for damages in excess of $10,000 to pay for legal expenses and another $10,000 for the boy’s counseling.
Lois Nilsen, a spokeswoman for the N.C. Division of Social Services, said that everyone in the state has a duty to report suspected child abuse. “Guidance counselors, bus drivers, teachers … all need to call if there an allegation of child abuse.”
State law also requires school personnel to report suspected abuse.
But Culbertson said that the school system was negligent from the beginning by not “conducting even a cursory investigation … and thereby triggering a needless traumatic and intrusive investigation.”
“If they behaved with due duty, that record would have never been made in the first place,” he said. “It was their duty early on to take into account the credibility of the allegations.”
David Inabinett, the school system’s attorney, did not return a telephone call asking for comment yesterday.

Laura Giovanelli can be reached in Lexington at (336) 248-2074 or at lgiovanelli@wsjournal.com

Defense: Depression led to murder

By Theresa Killian Staff Writer
Article taken from High Point Enterprise

HIGH POINT – A judge was not moved to leniency Monday after testimony that a man who shot one housemate and killed another suffered severe depression that stemmed from childhood illness and being unable to visit his son.
Superior Court Judge W. Douglas Albright heard eight proposed mitigating factors, as well as a request to consolidate charges, before sentencing Kenneth Steve Lamm in the maximum possible range of 20-25 years.
Albright said reduced murder charges against Lamm as apart of a plea arrangement were mitigating enough.
High Point police originally charged Lamm with first-degree murder and attempted murder after shootings at an E. Moore Avenue residence Sept. 29.
Lamm pleaded guilty, without admitting guilt, to shooting housemate Walter Davis in the arm and leg when he made disparaging comments about his girlfriend.
He then shot housemate Christopher Thomas Jarvis, 29, in the chest when he came to the doorway of a bedroom. Jarvis died.
The plea reduced the charges to second-degree murder and assault with a deadly weapon inflicting serious injury. Lamm also was sentenced Monday for an assault charge pending at the time of the shooting.
Krispen Culbertson, the attorney who defended Lamm, said they had hoped for a better sentence.

Family members testified Lamm was never the same after fighting a disease at age 11 that left him temporarily unable to swallow, speak or walk.
Further testimony indicated he battled severe depression after he was prevented from seeing his son. The depression was compounded with a substance abuse problem that led Lamm to a 28-day treatment program.
"They said you’ve got to practice tough love stuff, and that’s what it was – tough love," said Betty Lamm, Kenneth’s mother. She later described photos of her son caring for his own child, who is 9.
"I think it’s a lot of things that have built up over his lifetime," Betty Lamm told the judge.
Culbertson said all factors contributed to Kenneth Lamm’s limited ability to control his actions at the time.
"The defendant is a man," Culbertson said. "He was not without his value as a human being. Mercy is appropriate."
But Jarvis’ family, including his mother and Angela Brown, the mother of Jarvis’ son, said they thought the sentence was fair.
Brown said Jarvis may have had problems himself but that he was good at heart, loved his family and had regularly spent time with their 3-year old son.
"He knows his Daddy is in heaven," Brown said.

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