When it was over -- when the camera crews had gone and the jury had been dismissed -- William Moats stood in a courtroom with his daughter's ankle bracelet in his hand.

He bounced it in his palm, the small pink and white loop he has carried in his pocket for three years since his daughter and two of her friends were killed in a crash while coming home from dinner and a movie.

"She was here today," he said. "Today is the anniversary of her death, and this is perfect timing."

He was talking about the guilty verdicts in the trial of Steve C. Neale, 41, of Westerville. The trial began Tuesday in Licking County.

Neale was convicted Friday of causing the deaths of Moats' 18-year-old daughter, Nicole Swigert-Moats; her two friends, Gabrielle Mayabb, 18, and Kevin Miller, 25; and seriously injuring another friend, 20-year-old Paul Davis Jr.

A Licking County Common Pleas Court jury found Neale guilty of three felony counts of aggravated vehicular homicide and a count of aggravated vehicular assault as well as three misdemeanor counts of vehicular homicide, a count of negligent assault and a charge of operating a vehicle under the influence of alcohol.

He could get up to 29 years in prison.

The crash occurred during the early hours of June 15, 2008, north of Pataskala as the foursome was returning to the Newark area after a night out in Columbus.

Neale was driving north on Rt. 310 just after midnight when he struck a vehicle driven by Mayabb at the intersection of Rt. 310 and Morse Road. Testimony by State Highway Patrol troopers indicated that Neale's SUV struck Mayabb's sedan between the tires, causing the most damage possible to the passenger side.

Neale suffered minor injuries. He testified in court on Thursday that he had the green light and said he didn't see Mayabb's car enter the intersection until the last second. He said he slammed on his brakes but it was too late.

Under cross-examination, Neale admitted that he had about five beers that afternoon while at a charity golf outing and had not been entirely accurate in the statements he gave police at the scene.

He told officers he thought he was traveling about 45 to 50 mph, but information gathered from his vehicle indicated he had been going a steady 65 mph up until just moments before his air bag deployed. The speed limit on that stretch is 55 mph.

A urine test taken later at the State Highway Patrol's Granville post indicated that he had a urine-alcohol level of 0.16 percent. A person is presumed to be driving drunk in Ohio when a urine test indicates 0.11 percent. That is higher than the 0.08 percent threshold for a blood-alcohol test.

Licking County Common Pleas Judge Thomas Marcelain will sentence Neale.

Moats said it was the verdict his family had hoped for.

"I've always had faith in the system, and the system did work this time," he said.

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By Josh Jarman - The Columbus Dispatch (MCT)

Copyright (c) 2011, The Columbus Dispatch, Ohio

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