STILLWATER — A Cushing man who was charged with leaving the scene of an accident that killed a pedestrian last year on Highway 18 north of Cushing has asked for a July 2 preliminary hearing in Payne County District Court.
Bryan Ray Odle, 25, who appeared in court last week, could receive as much as a 10-year prison term and a $10,000 fine if convicted of failure to stop in a fatal accident in the May 18, 2007, traffic death of Robert Jason Burt, 33, of Cushing.
The victim’s body was found the following day at 6:30 a.m. in the right-of-way area on the west side of the highway, about five and one-half miles north of Cushing, Payne County Sheriff Noel Bagwell said.
The Oklahoma Highway Patrol investigated the fatality that occurred two and one-half miles south of Highway 51 as a homicide.
Six months after the victim’s death, charges were filed against Odle by Payne County First Assistant District Attorney Tom Lee.
The charges allege that Odle was traveling southbound on Highway 18 when he ran off the highway, struck Burt and left the scene — failing to immediately report the accident. Odle remains free on $5,000 bond.
He is being defended on the charges by attorneys Bill Ahrberg of Cushing and Cheryl Ramsey of Stillwater.
In addition to being charged with felony hit and run in a traffic fatality, Odle is also facing a misdemeanor count of negligent homicide, which alleges that he drove his car off the traveled portion of the highway and struck the victim causing his death.
If convicted of that misdemeanor count, Odle could receive as much as a one-year county jail term and a $1,000 fine, court records show.
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