Ex-trucker indicted in fatal N.J. crash

NEW BRUNSWICK, N.J. — A grand jury on Wednesday indicted the truck driver accused of crashing into a limo van last year on the New Jersey Turnpike, injuring comedian Tracy Morgan and killing one of his friends.

The grand jury charged Kevin Roper with first-degree aggravated manslaughter, second-degree vehicular homicide and third-degree aggravated assault in the June 2014 crash.

Roper’s attorney, David Glassman, was in court Tuesday arguing to have the initial charges of vehicular homicide and assault by auto thrown out because of adverse publicity surrounding Morgan’s settlement of a lawsuit with Wal-Mart earlier this year. A judge tentatively set a date for early January to revisit the issue.

Roper of Jonesboro, Ga., was driving a Wal-Mart truck when the crash occurred on the New Jersey Turnpike. He was not in court Wednesday, and an arraignment will be scheduled at a later date, said a spokesman for the prosecutor’s office.

The crash killed comedian James McNair and seriously injured Morgan and others. Morgan, a former 30 Rock and Saturday Night Live star, suffered brain trauma, broken ribs and a broken leg.

A National Transportation Safety Board investigation concluded in August that Roper hadn’t slept in the 28 hours before the crash, a finding Glassman has disputed.