Knupp defendant’s attorney files for change of venue

Retired judge from Dorchester County to preside over motion hearing

By TOM STAUSS Publisher

As the sad one-year anniversary of the death of Ocean Pines teenager Gavin Knupp approaches, the legal case against the West Ocean City man implicated in the accident which killed the 14-year-old Knupp grinds ever slowly through the legal system.

It took nine months and 17 days from the time of the accident, which occurred on July 11 last year, for the state to file charges in the case.

It took another 48 days from April 28, the date charges were filed, for the defendant’s attorney to ask for a change in venue, on grounds that the climate in Worcester County is so toxic and prejudiced against his client that a fair trial in Snow Hill is impossible.

Tyler Mailloux, 22, was cited with 17 counts in the accident, all of which seem to boil down a single charge: He left the scene of the July 16 accident at about 10:45 p.m. on Gray’s Corner Road, about two miles south of Ocean Pines, without stopping. The crux of the state case is that he knew, or should have known, that an accident had occurred, and that he should have stopped to render assistance to an injured person and provide information to the first responders.

All are serious charges with the potential of serious penalties, to be sure, but not on a par with vehicular manslaughter, speeding or driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs.

The list of charges against Mailloux would be far more voluminous had alcohol been involved, excessive speed or some other fault been found in his driving. But

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