Marine charged in fatal wreck set to deploy
The Associated Press
Posted : Sunday Aug 12, 2007 9:07:41 EDT

CLINTON, Tenn. — An attorney for a Marine charged in the vehicular homicide of a 17-year-old high school student said his client is scheduled to deploy to Iraq next month.

Nicholas Scott Nations, of Clinton, was indicted in June for the death of Cassandra “Cassi” Denise Floyd, a senior at Anderson County High School.

Nations flew in from a Marine base in California for his arraignment Friday, and his attorney, Mart Cizek, said he scheduled to deploy for a 7- to 8-month tour.

“I doubt they’ll send him to Iraq with these charges pending,” said Anderson County Criminal Court Judge Don Elledge.

Nations pleaded not guilty to charges of vehicular homicide, two counts of vehicular assault, drunken driving and refusal to submit to a blood-alcohol test after the Oct. 22 wreck.

Floyd was a passenger in Nations’ car when it collided with a car driven by an off-duty Oak Ridge police officer and his wife at an intersection in Clinton, about 18 miles northwest of Knoxville.

She died six days after the wreck.

According to the arrest warrant, Nations said he had consumed “three shots of alcohol” and three beers before the wreck. He wasn’t able to perform a field sobriety test because of his injuries in the wreck.

Cizek said there might be some question whether her death was directly related to wreck injuries.

Ellie