New Trial Denied in Fatal Sign Theft

Three friends convicted last year of manslaughter for the theft of a stop sign that led to an accident in which three people were killed were refused a new trial by a Florida judge Friday. Hillsborough County Circuit Judge Bob Anderson Mitcham upheld the convictions and 15-year prison sentences for Thomas Miller, 21, Nissa Baillie, 22, and Christopher Cole, 21. Kevin Farr, Brian Hernandez and Randall White, all 18, were killed on Feb. 7, 1996, when they went through a Tampa intersection in a car, unaware that there had been a stop sign, and were hit by a truck. The three defendants admitted stealing several traffic signs in the area as a prank, but denied taking the stop sign at the site of the crash. The case will be appealed, and the trio remain free on bail.