PROVIDENCE, R.I. -- District Court Judge Mary McCaffrey has acquitted former Chariho School Committee member Terri Serra of failing to render assistance during the early morning hours of Oct. 23, 2011 at the scene of a car crash that injured four teens who had been at a party on her property where the judge said there had been underage drinking and smoking of marijuana.
TERRI SERRA
The judge said she was dismissing the charge "very reluctantly" because, she said, she found Serra's behavior at the accident scene "abhorrent." But the judge said that she does not believe R.I. state law requires everyone who drives past an accident scene to call 911.
She said that based on testimony at prior hearings, Serra did try to get a father of a young man who attended the party and lived near the accident scene and who was a Charlestown firefighter to come render aid. After he could not do so, because he himself was recovering from some medical problems, Serra returned to the scene and by that time someone else had called 911.
Correction: A previous version of this post gave an incorrect date for the initial incident.