KNOXVILLE, Tennessee — UPDATE: The driver accused of killing 22-year-old Pierce Corcoran is in ICE Custody, KCSO confirms.
Francisco-Eduardo Franco Cambrany will be held at a facility in Cobb County, Georgia.
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ORIGINAL STORY: A judge reinstated bond Friday for the man charged in a deadly Chapman Highway crash.
The Knox County judge granted Francisco-Eduardo Franco Cambrany, an immigrant who is charged with criminally negligent homicide, bond at $3,500.
A different judge revoked his bond at a hearing two weeks ago over concerns if he posted bond he would be taken into ICE custody.
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The judge also added bond restrictions including GPS monitoring. Cambrany would also not be allowed to drive or leave the county.
Court documents show he has lived in the U.S. illegally for more than a decade.
Police said Cambrany veered into oncoming traffic on Dec. 29 and struck a Honda Civic head-on.
The driver, 22-year-old Pierce Corcoran, died.
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As of 6 p.m. Friday, Cambrany was still listed as an inmate in the Knox County jail.
During a preliminary hearing, the State argued that Cambrany "chose" to veer into the path of oncoming traffic rather than divert to an empty northbound right-hand lane. However, in a motion to dismiss the charge, Cambrany's lawyers argue "there were no available live witnesses with personal knowledge to testify that the Defendant had a safe option".
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There is reportedly surveillance video from a storage facility some distance from the crash but it has not been made available to the public. Cambrany's public defender also says he does not have access to it.
In Cambrany's motion to reconsider the order of revoking his bond, defense attorney Mark Stephens said he maintains that he "has a constitutional right to bail and the State has failed to offer any appropriate legal basis to support their request to revoke his bail".
"Assistant District Attorney Rachel Russell did not provide undersigned counsel with a copy of this Storage facility video either before or after the hearing and, in spite of requests by undersigned counsel since the hearing, her Office continues to fail to make the video available," the motion to dismiss alleges.
On Dec. 30, the day after the crash, Cambrany posted his $1,000 bond, according to court documents. The next day, he was charged with the Class E Felony related to the same crash.
"Knowing that an immigration hold had been placed on this Defendant, and consistent with federal and State law, the Knox County Magistrate placed a $2,500 bond on Defendant's Class E Felony Charge," the motion said. "The Defendant posted his now $3,500 bond by paying EZ Bonding Company nearly $4,000."
The State filed a motion to revoke his bail on Jan. 2. At the time it was filed, Cambrany had not been released from custody since the initial Dec. 29 arrest.
"The State maintains that his undocumented status alone gives this Court the authority to revoke his bond," the document said.
A motion to dismiss the charges was denied. The motion states Cambrany borrowed a truck from an acquaintance in order to do a favor for a friend. While on the errand he was involved in an automobile crash that took Pierce Corcoran's life.
Who is Francisco-Eduardo Franco Cambrany?
A motion to reconsider an order revoking Cambrany's bond described who he is.
"Francisco-Eduardo Franco Cambrany is a married 44-year-old father of three children and two grandchildren. He has no prior criminal record. After serving in the Mexican military, he served in the police force as guard for a local law enforcement "Commander" in and around Valente Diaz, Veracruz, Mexico. Following a gang ambush where the Defendant's "Commander" was murdered and the Defendant was shot multiple times, Mr. Franco Cambrany quit his job with the police department and returned to an agricultural way of life. The onset of cancer with his father-in-law, and the family's inability to pay for needed medical care, led the Defendant to enter this country with the hope that he could make enough money to send home to provide needed medical care for his father-in-law and to otherwise help support his family.
"For most of the last fourteen years, Mr. Franco Cambrany has not been with his family. He has not seen his oldest daughter, Estela, in more than a decade and only fairly recently has he been reunited with his two sons. He has remained in this country because the economic circumstances of his family in Mexico have demanded that he sacrifice in order to provide for his immediate and extended family's needs. It has been very hard on Mr. Franco Cambrany. With limited English proficiency and tenuous immigration status, Mr. Franco Cambrany has been an easy "target" for some who have engaged him to work but refused him an honest wage, or any wage at all. He has endured periods of homelessness, at times living in a car.
"Mr. Franco Cambrany has persevered and has 'succeeded.' Thanks in part to his financial contributions, his oldest daughter will graduate from college in a year and will become a dentist. His youngest son recently graduated from a local high school with honors. His father-in-law is enjoying momentary remission from his cancer and the Defendant has been reunited with his wife and two boys.
"Mr. Franco Cambrany attributes his 'success' in this country to the kindness and generosity of East Tennesseans. It is his sincere hope that he lives the remainder of his life in East Tennessee. He will never - voluntarily- leave East Tennessee. He has suffered great sacrifice to call this area home. If the American government will allow, he plans to live the entirety of his life in the Oak Ridge/Knoxville area."
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