Clampitt trial set for January

A five-day jury trial has been scheduled for local attorney James A. Clampitt, who is accused of involuntary manslaughter and leaving the scene for a hit-and-run accident on June 13, 2010, that fatally wounded a Mexico man, Richard Cobb.

The jury trial is set for Jan. 28 through Feb. 1, 2013 starting at 8:30 a.m. in the Division 1 courtroom at the Chariton County Courthouse in Keytesville. A hearing was held Thursday at the same location, with Clampitt appearing in person and with counsel. A jury was ordered by Presiding Judge Gary E. Ravens.

Clampitt is charged with first-degree involuntary manslaughter and leaving the scene of a motor vehicle accident. A change of venue was granted in December 2010, moving the case out of Audrain County. Prosecutors say Clampitt struck Cobb, as Cobb was riding a lawnmower on North Jefferson Street in Mexico. Cobb was transported to University Hospital in Columbia and died three days later.

Clampitt has since admitted he was driving that night, but says he did not know he hit something other than a street curb. Clampitt says he was reading a text when he thought he hit the curb and was not looking at the street at the time.