OGDEN — The second trial stemming from the death of a swimmer struck by a motorboat on Pineview Reservoir begins Monday in 2nd District Court.
Skyler Shepherd was sentenced to two and a half years in Weber County Jail after a six-member jury found him guilty in December of reckless endangerment and obstruction of justice, both class A misdemeanors, and failure to render aid, a class B misdemeanor.
The charges, from the Aug. 21, 2011, boating death of Esther Fujimoto, were the stiffest the law allowed at the time. Reckless endangerment has since been upgraded to a felony because of Fujimoto’s death.
Colton Raines faces the same charges as Shepherd. Robert Cole Boyer, the third person in the boat, is charged with a single count of obstructing justice.
Their trial is set for Monday, Tuesday and Thursday before 2nd District Judge Ernie Jones, the same judge who sentenced Shepherd to the maximum jail terms for misdemeanors.
Raines was driving the boat when it ran over Fujimoto, according to testimony, nearly severing one leg, but the charges stem from what happened afterward, when Shepherd took the wheel and fled the scene.
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