Orange County man whose road-rage conviction was vacated to be retried

ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. — An Orange County man will be retried on a felony battery charge related to a road-rage incident, even though he was already convicted and served nearly three years in prison.

“(It’s) a waste of taxpayer money, because what are we going to accomplish?” said the suspect, David Young.

Young was convicted in 2008. While he was in prison, he fought to have his sentence vacated, arguing that he didn’t get a fair trial.

His defense attorney admitted in open court that he was unprepared on trial day, and witnesses able to provide details defending Young were never called to the stand.

“(It’s) very frustrating. I don't understand how it's not double jeopardy,” Young said.

A judge agreed with Young and vacated his conviction in 2015. But because the prosecutor appealed, the case is heading back to trial in the spring.

“He’s already served a majority of his time, so at most, if convicted, he would have to serve the remainder of his sentence, which is a few months and a felony conviction,” according to WFTV legal analyst Bill Sheaffer.

A spokesperson for the state attorney’s office said in an email that the office can’t comment because the case is still open, but office records show that prosecutors pursued appeals in 95 felony cases in the last three years. It’s unclear how many were retired and whether the defendants had already served any portion of their sentences, as in Young’s case.

“It was a road-rage incident. It was something where no one got hurt. There were no incidences where anyone had to go to the hospital,” Young said.

The case was scheduled to go to trial this week, but it was continued because one of the witnesses wasn’t available.

Previous Story: 

Cox Media Group