Highway patrol offers explanation to Geddings family

Joe Perry / The Item The Geddings family met with the South Carolina Highway Patrol in Blythewood on Thursday.

By ANNABELLE ROBERTSON
Item Staff Writer
arobertson@theitem.com

BLYTHEWOOD — After more than two months of silence, the South Carolina Highway Patrol has explained its final decisions in a wreck that took the life of a pregnant teenager.

Col. F.K. Lancaster Jr., commander of the highway patrol, along with two of the investigating officers, met with members of the Geddings family on Thursday to explain the reasons that Charles "Fat Cat" Atkinson was not charged in the Aug. 20 crash that killed Nikki Geddings, 19.

The emotionally charged meeting took place at the Blythewood office of the state Department of Public Safety.

At one point, Missy and Ricky Geddings, Nikki Geddings' parents, stormed out. Kristen Phillips, who was found responsible for the wreck, was also present, along with Candace Geddings, Nikki Geddings' sister who survived the wreck. Both women cried throughout the meeting, as did Missy Geddings.

Phillips, who was charged with "improper standing, stopping or parking in the roadway," had been checking her mail from the driver's window that night when she was struck. Her headlights were on.

Lancaster stated that such meetings were not standard protocol for the highway patrol, but because of the many questions surrounding the decision, he wanted to review the highway patrol's findings and give the family the opportunity to ask questions.

"We're here today to show you the facts," he said. "It's a tragedy, but I can't go back. I know you have concerns about drug use and alcohol use. But we can't go back to something that happened two months or even two days before the wreck. I'm looking at what took place on the road that night. We take the case and we make the charges as appropriate."

Their investigation, Lancaster said, revealed no evidence whatsoever that Atkinson was at fault, even though he had been exceeding the speed limit by a range of four to nine mph.

"The driver was on the wrong side of the road and that started this chain of events, and that's why this wreck took place," he said.

Cpl. C.M. Coates and Sgt. S.R. Breland, who participated in the investigation, were also on hand to answer questions. The officers showed the family a digitally animated recreation of the wreck and discussed numerous measurements taken by the highway patrol. They also explained the physics behind their conclusions.

When Atkinson turned onto Old Stone Road from Pearson Road, they said, he drove approximately 1,400 feet before swerving onto the right shoulder to avoid Phillips' car, which was parked in his lane, facing him. The damage to the vehicle, the fact that Candace Geddings was not ejected from the front seat of the car, and "the math" led them to conclude that Atkinson was traveling between 49 and 54 mph in the 45 mph zone. He had approximately two seconds to react from the time he saw the hazard to the time he had to react to the hazard, they said.

By swerving to the right, they concluded, Atkinson acted appropriately and legally.

The officers downplayed the fact that Atkinson was exceeding the speed limit. When The Item asked whether Atkinson was, in fact, speeding, since officers had estimated he was traveling between 49 and 54 mph in a 45 mph zone, Capt. R.I. Lee grimaced and said, "Technically."

They also denied that Atkinson should have been charged with "driving too fast for conditions," despite the excessive speed and the darkness.

The bottom line, Lancaster said, is that Phillips caused the wreck.

"Had she not been on the wrong side of the road, the crash would not have happened," Lee said. "You cannot check your mail while driving your vehicle on the wrong side of the road. You cannot check the mail on the wrong side of the road at night. You just can't; it's illegal."

Lancaster and his subordinates also dismissed the argument that common sense would have dictated that Atkinson swerve to the left and stay on the pavement, to miss Phillips' stopped car, instead of the right. Had he done that, The Item pointed out, he would have avoided the unpaved shoulder and the culvert — a ditch that caused the car to go airborne and hit Phillips's car before slamming against a tree.

"The law says that drivers must swerve to the right to avoid a hazard," they said.

The most shocking revelation for the Geddings family, however, was the admission that the highway patrol had not administered any field sobriety tests to Atkinson or required blood tests from him that night.

"I've listened to the video of the scene, listened to him talking," he said. "No one at the scene thought he was impaired. His speech wasn't slurred. His actions (didn't indicate any) impairment. His motor skills were functioning as he would (normally)."

Atkinson was transported to Tuomey Regional Medical Center, however, where he was blood tested and examined by several doctors, Lancaster said. The tests revealed no alcohol and no drug levels.

The statement caused Missy Geddings to burst into tears.

"He killed my young'n! And my daughter will tell you that he was taking pills!" she cried.

Prior to the meeting, Candace Geddings had told The Item on several occasions that Atkinson handed out prescription drugs to everyone in his car, throughout the evening of the wreck. Officers confirmed that she had told them the same thing but said that their conclusions were otherwise.

Dickie Jones, attorney for the Geddings, showed the officers photos of the floorboards of Atkinson's vehicle, which were strewn with large white pills. Jones, who retrieved one of the pills from the car, said that it was stamped with the words and numbers "Watson 357."

According to www.drugs.com, the "Watson 357" markings indicate a combination of Acetaminophin and 10 milligrams of Hydrocodone, the generic drug for Vicodin, a narcotic painkiller.

Lancaster responded that they had requested and reviewed the results from Tuomey, which revealed no alcohol or drugs in Atkinson's system. The medical findings, he said, confirmed the highway patrol officer's decision to not test Atkinson that night.

Coates and Breland said several times that they had concluded, based on multiple interviews with several people — especially Atkinson and his son, Kyle Atkinson, who was also in the vehicle that night — that both Candace Geddings and Phillips had lied.

For example, the digital recreation showed that Phillips was moving toward the mailbox when she was struck — a finding that she immediately denied.

"My mail was on the seat beside me!" she said.

Both officers indicated that they did not believe her.

"Well, give me a lie detector test!," she retorted. Her objections were quickly dismissed.

"I can't even explain how I feel about this," said Ricky Geddings, after the meeting. "I have so much frustration and anger. I lost it. They were just flat out rude to us. And that's how they treated us at the first meeting."

"What they said was that all the other witnesses were liars and that Fat Cat was telling the truth?" he said. "I jumped up out of my seat and I said, 'My daughter is in the Lord's arms, and y'all are calling my other young'n a liar? Her sister is dead! What does she have to do with lying? Why would she lie? And if you think Fat Cat is such a role model, then I hope each and every one of y'all's children grow up to be just like him."

He regretted the outburst, Geddings said, and had "asked the Lord to forgive me."

However, Geddings said he remains astonished that the officers accepted Atkinson's word over that of their daughter, Candace — an eyewitness to crash who, unlike Geddings, had no motive whatsoever for lying, he said.