By admin 
After a drug report showed a South Carolina driver was allegedly under the influence of marijuana and kratom in a fatal February crash that killed a mother, a judge has again kept the driver jailed.
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Joel Laron Smith, 22, of Fort Mill, now faces as much as 35 years if convicted of felony DUI resulting in death and reckless homicide.
Marybeth Robinson, 43, a mother of two from Indian Land south of Charlotte, was driving on Celanese Road in Rock Hill when Smith’s car went airborne off Interstate Exit 82 and smashed into her minivan on Feb. 27. Her family was not in York County court but listened to Thursday’s hearing by telephone.
Judge Bill McKinnon again denied Smith bail Thursday two months after he denied it a first time. McKinnon said in July he would allow Smith to seek bail again after the toxicology report from the crash was finished. That report came back last week.
“My view of the case has not changed,” McKinnon said. “The reason I said you could bring it back after the tox report is I thought that maybe a clean tox report would alter the analysis, but unfortunately it has gone the other way, so I’m going to deny bond.”
Marijuana, kratom and a gun
A State Law Enforcement Division report issued this week showed that Smith allegedly had both THC, the active ingredient in marijuana, and kratom in his system at the time of the crash, prosecutor Matthew Shelton told the judge. When Rock Hill police got the report, they added the felony DUI charge.
Kratom is a stimulant herbal substance with psychoactive ingredients with an “opioid-like effect,” Shelton told the judge.
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“The toxicologist has told us that the THC alone has significant impairing effects,” Shelton told McKinnon. “When you factor in the kratom, it likely has an additive effect with the THC, so one plus one equals two, kind of synergistic,” Shelton said.
Smith had previously told police after the crash he had used both marijuana and kratom products, but not before the crash, according to previous court testimony.
Smith also allegedly had a gun in the car at the time that he was barred from having because of a conviction for drugs among past and current charges in other parts of South Carolina, North Carolina and Arkansas, Shelton said.
Shelton said Smith is both a danger to the public and a flight risk if released.
Defense: Smith understands “impacts of behavior”
Smith did not speak in court. His mother told the judge she would take him to school at a welding program if he was released, and he would abide by any bond conditions.
His lawyer, Robby Bruce, argued Smith would agree to house arrest and GPS monitoring if released on bail.
“After my client was arrested he struggled with what had happened…” Bruce said. “He understands the seriousness of it and the impact of his behavior…. He’s not a flight risk and he’s not a danger to the community, he’s never been threatening to anyone.”
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Smith has not been convicted of any crimes from the Feb. 27 fatal crash.
No trial date has been set.