Editor, Gazette-Journal:

Michelle Durham is one of the most unbelievably strong women I know and I am honored to call her a friend. She lost her husband in a horrific car crash and is working tirelessly to help her child recover from life threatening injuries as a result of that crash. One of the most difficult things I have had to do since becoming Commonwealth’s Attorney was to look her in the eyes and tell her that the evidence just wasn’t there.

In recent weeks, I have received many inquiries into the facts surrounding the crash that resulted in the death of a dear man in our community, Troy Durham, and the resulting criminal case. The inquiries have grown in number such that I am sharing a brief summary here today. These are the facts:

1. There is no evidence from a "black box" data recording device or any witnesses of the speed of travel, steering, braking, etc., of the defendant immediately before the crash. Therefore, we had no evidence of erratic driving, e...