The case of Jean Claude Meus is going back to the courtroom, almost a year after Hardee County Judge Jeff McKibben granted a new trial.
An April 24 status hearing has been scheduled for Meus. This hearing follows a March 11 ruling by the Second District Court of Appeals in Lakeland that affirmed McKibben's decision.
Meus, 45, an independent trucker, was convicted in Hardee County in the 2001 accidental death of Nona Moore, 40, and her 8-year-old daughter Lindsey.
Prosecutors say Meus fell asleep at the wheel, drove through a stop sign and overturned his tractor-trailer onto Moore's van at Seven Mile Point. The defendant said he was cut off by a third vehicle and was forced to swerve into the van.
Meus was sentenced in 2003 to 15 years in prison, but was released by McKibben after a witness on the scene testified that Meus did not seem tired and had no problems walking, talking or understanding what was happening.
The April 24 hearing is simply a status hearing and not the start date of a new trial.
"We don't know what the state will do at the hearing," said Rebecca Chenoweth, Meus' wife. "For past behavior from the state, we can only guess that the charges will be refiled."
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