Dentist charged in boating fatality seeks probation

BLOUNTVILLE, Tenn. (AP) - A dentist arrested on criminally negligent homicide and other charges in a fatal boating accident last summer is seeking a form of probation that could get the charge erased from his record.

Wray W. Chaffin II, 40, of Piney Flats, was indicted in September on the charges after the Boone Lake boat crash June 18 that killed Wayne Allen Cross, 63, and injured James Clark, 53, both of Bristol, Tenn.

Cross and Clark were aboard Clark's pontoon boat when it collided with Chaffin's Mastercraft boat, according to Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency.

Chaffin's boat allegedly fled the scene and was spotted later the same day on the lake by TWRA officers, who stopped it after noticing damage to the vessel. Chaffin requested a pretrial diversion during a brief hearing on Thursday.

Diversion subject a defendant to probation for a period of approximately one year. If the requirements are properly completed, there is no finding of guilt and the charge can be expunged from the offender's record.

The state is expected to announce if it will grant pretrial diversion during a July 27 court hearing. Chaffin, a dentist with a practice in Gate City, Va., is free on a $7,500 bond. If convicted, Chaffin faces no more than a two-year sentence on the homicide charge, up to a year for the negligent boating charge and no more than 30 days for failing to render aid following a boating accident.

(Copyright 2007 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)