‘Somali immigrant’ charged in crash that killed three wants charges dropped, citing ‘negative coverage’
The attorney for an alleged Somali immigrant truck driver blamed for causing a deadly car crash in April on Interstate 71 in Delaware County is asking a judge to dismiss the charges, saying extensive media coverage has made it impossible for him to receive a fair trial, as he is portrayed in a negative light.
Modou Fall Ngom is charged with aggravated homicide in the deaths of Lynnea Soposki, 36, a veterinarian at Muirfield Animal Hospital in Dublin, her husband Luke Soposki, 37, and their 1-year-old baby, Logan. Local news outlets also reported that three other people were injured and transported to a nearby hospital, and two of them filed a lawsuit against Modou Fall Ngom.
Ngom’s background is unclear. U.S. Sen. Bernie Moreno, R-Ohio, said that Ngom came from Somalia and became a U.S. citizen 10 years ago under Obama.
Jeffrey M. Poth, Ngom’s defense attorney, filed a motion in the Delaware County Court of Common Pleas, in which he cited an April 23 news article by The Columbus Dispatch and an April 24 news article by WOSU Public Media as examples of unfairly negative coverage that resulted in jurors potentially being against Ngom, The Dispatch reported. Poth included screenshots of both articles as exhibits attached to the filed motion, the news source reported.
In the motion, Poth said that the news articles reported that the Ohio Department of Public Safety Director Andy Wilson allegedly said that Ngom may have used fake identification documents and licensing records, arguing that the statement by Wilson was not “contained in the indictment” and resulted in improperly influencing the public perception of his client’s case.
“When Mr. Wilson, in his official capacity as the Director of Public Safety, stated to the press that Mr. Ngom was involved in other criminal activity separate from the current charges contained in the Indictment, he unduly interfered with Mr. Ngom’s pending case,” Poth wrote in the motion.
Poth also wrote in the filing that, in addition to The Dispatch and WOSU, the national media outlets also negatively affected the public perception of Ngom’s case by amplifying the negative coverage after the local news outlets published their stories.
As a result, Ngom’s attorneys requested that the indictment be dismissed with prejudice, meaning the charges could not be refiled and Ngom would be free to go.
After that, prosecutors requested on May 12 a 10-day extension to submit a formal written response to Ngom’s motion to dismiss.
Assistant Prosecuting Attorney Daniel Cogley wrote in the filing that the attorney assigned to the case became involved in another criminal jury trial, which prevented the state from responding to the request within the usual timeframe.
On April 16, a grand jury indicted Ngom on multiple felony charges after Ngom caused the car crash.
