Fatal Crash Suspect Wants Drug Case Evidence Tossed

An attorney representing a Hampton woman still held on bail in connection to a fatal crash that claimed the life of two cyclists is seeking to throw out evidence that prosecutors are using to try to prove his client is a drug dealer, according to the Union Leader.

Cindy Sheppard, 48, faces charges in two different cases — one stemming from a drug raid at her home in May, and one connected to her involvement in a Sept. 21 fatal crash caused by unlicensed teen driver Darriean Hess on the Neil R. Underwood Memorial Bridge.

The Union Leader has reported that attorney Neil Reardon argued in Rockingham Superior Court on Monday that police lacked evidence and cause before executing the two search warrants used to build the former case against Sheppard, an Ocean Boulevard resident.

Sheppard was arrested on seven possession of a controlled drug charges in May following the raid, which allegedly recovered 7.39 grams of heroin, 4.06 grams of cocaine, .41 grams of crack cocaine, two pills or .53 grams of methylone, eight pills or 1.67 grams of oxycodone, eight pills or 1.25 grams of diazepam, and 1.67 ounces of marijuana.

Sheppard has since been indicted in connection to the case. The indictment came less than a month before Sheppard was arrested for allegedly allowing Hess to use the car that Hess operated while causing the Sept. 21 fatal crash.

Police also allege that Sheppard gave Hess a narcotic pain killer called fentanyl not long before Hess caused the crash.

The Union Leader has reported that the outcome of Reardon's motion to dismiss the drug case's evidence will "likely have no bearing" on Sheppard's fatal crash charges.



[Read the full Union Leader story here.]