The Michigan Court of Appeals vacated the conviction in 2023, saying it was improperly based on the unsafe condition of his truck and not the manner in which he operated it.
The appeals court overturned the conviction, as it appeared it was the first time in Michigan someone was convicted of a high felony for driving a substandard vehicle.
The state Court of Appeals in a 2-1 decision last Thursday overturned the conviction because it was based not on Otto's driving but the unsafe condition of the trailer-pulling dump truck Otto was driving that crashed into a vehicle at an intersection, causing a backhoe and the trailer tip onto a car in which Giana Giannini was the passenger.
Judge Edward Servitto ruled in favor of the prosecution in the case of Timothy Otto of Chesterfield Township, who was charged with second-degree murder, reckless driving causing death and vehicular manslaughter for the death of 10-year-old Giana Giannini. The second-degree murder charge was dismissed, and Otto's reckless driving causing death conviction was reversed Thursday by the state Court of Appeals.
The Michigan Court of Appeals threw out a conviction in the traffic death of a 10-year-old girl in Warren, saying the Legislature didn’t intend to turn bad brakes into a crime.