I imagine this will become an annual post to remember Emilee Gagnon who was KILLED by LYNNE SMITH. I wrote about LYNNE SMITH’S CONVICTION … and her post conviction motion to HIDE HER CONVICTION here… but the story is worth reviewing today in light of ANOTHER cyclist killer up in the Toledo area who is whining about his sentence – discussed below…
On September 23, 2013, Emilee was riding her loaded touring bike cross country on a charity, fund raising trip. As she was preparing to end for the day near Toledo she was riding along State Route 163 near Genoa, Ohio.
Now, if you don’t know, mid-September -and mid-March- are the times of year when the sun rises & sets on its most East/West line… hence the equinox times…
You didn’t know that did you?
These times present the worst Sun Glare on Ohio’s east/west roads at sunrise and sunset. Despite this phenomenon occurring for the past untold millennia motorists remain… SHOCKED, SIMPLY SHOCKED… to find the sun in their eyes at sunset on westbound roads… completely surprised, taken aback and confused by the presence of the giant ball of light that impairs their vision and ability to see what is in front of them…
OF course, they always… slow down… right… right???
Of course NOT… many motorists just keep motoring along secure in their knowledge that their 2 ton bowling balls can obliterate whatever is in front of them.
That’s what LYNNE SMITH did… she encountered a blinding setting sun on a fast, westbound road and kept on going… she slammed into Emilee, who was on teh BERM riding towards her final destination that was just a few minutes up the road. Emilee was killed –
Lynne Smith was charged with … a misdemeanor… of course, but hey, why would KILLING SOMEONE with your car be a felony?
Lynne Smith plead down and accepted a conviction on second degree vehicular manslaughter charges. Despite a risk of a max of a whopping 90 days in jail, she was sentenced to… TA DA… ZERO days behind bars… Rather, the court put her on probation for 2 years, wagged his finger at her and sent her on her way. By all accounts, Smith served her sentence and finished her probation.
But Wait…There’s MORE…
A few years after her sentence was complete Smith filed a Motion to HIDE her conviction. To ERASE it from the public record. Technically it’s called a Motion to Seal The Record of her CONVICTION.
Emilee’s family, who live on the East Coast, was notified and they reached out to me for help. There was not much we could do at that point. They submitted their concerns to the court & we talked to the prosecutor, who filed an objection. The law requires a hearing on such things & I drove up to Toledo for hearing solely to support the family.
During our pre-hearing time with the Prosecutor we talked through the statute and he realized he needed a “witness” of some time to explain to the court WHY the conviction should not be sealed… I was drafted as The Witness to talk about legal and case research, bicycle law research, presenting data to legislatures and the like. ALL court records are open to the public, and should remain so unless there is a compelling reason to NOT have them open… the border should be on the person seeking to SEAL the record, not the victim’s family… or so we argued.
I was sworn in as an Expert in this stuff and provided my testimony. In the end the court disagreed and SEALED LYNNE SMITH’S CONVICTION.
So today if you Google Lynne Smith, you’ll read about her crime and conviction on my page, and in some local media, but you will NOT find her conviction in the public records…
SO why is Emilee Gagnon’s death percolating in my brain today… well…
In the same area, Toledo, ANOTHER cyclist was killed by ANOTHER errant motorist. And THAT Killer is also seeking some extraordinary relief…
Mom, Triathlete, Wife, Roseann Peiffer was killed in Toledo on May 31, 2025. Her killer was a young 18 yr old driver KACEY HILTON. Hilton told police he was messing with the sunroof of his Mercedes. Hilton drove left of center and drove into a group of 3 riders, killing Peiffer and maiming a 2nd rider.
From a recent story:
“Roseann Peiffer was riding her bicycle, as she did every morning, when she was hit by Kacey B. Hilton II. Mrs. Peiffer was an avid cyclist, runner, and triathlete. She competed, qualified for Team USA, woke up at 5 a.m. each day to train, and rarely took a day off. Before committing herself to being a stay-at-home mom, Mrs. Peiffer worked at Kingston Care Center of Sylvania as a wellness coordinator, where she helped the elderly stay active.”
Hilton was convicted of…ta da… a 2nd degree MISDEMEANOR… he did serve 30 days in jail and 30 days of “house arrest” [oooo big time pain there] and was placed on 2 yrs of probation…
NOW the KILLER KACEY HILTON is asking the court to TERMINATE HIS PROBATION early… Roseana Peiffer’s family is fighting this… or trying to… As the Gagnon family found, there just isn’t a lot they can do except voice their objections, make a lot of noise in the press, and hope the court holds the kid’s feet to the “fire” of “probation”
I mean, how HARD is it to finish PROBATION on a second degree misdemeanor after you’ve killed a woman? What is the burden on a 19 yr old kid?
‘You can read about it here-
Sheesh – I’m betting next up will be a another motion to HIDE THE CONVICTION…
Tags: bicycle, bike, crash, fatal, killer, probation, seal record, wrongful death
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