New Stanton man appealing sentence in deadly hit-run

A New Stanton man convicted of third-degree murder for the Christmas Eve 2016 death of an East Huntingdon pedestrian wants a new trial.

Matthew Ramsay, 31, is appealing his conviction, claiming evidence presented at trial in March was not sufficient to support a guilty finding.

“While the commonwealth’s evidence may have been sufficient to establish that the defendant committed negligent acts that might have resulted in the victim’s death, it was not proven beyond a reasonable doubt that the defendant’s acts were committed maliciously as opposed to accident,” defense attorney James Robinson wrote in the appeal.

Joseph Cummins, 49, died from injuries after being struck by a car driven by Ramsay as he walked his dog along Ruffsdale-Alverton Road. Police said Ramsay was under the influence of drugs when he deliberately veered across traffic and hit Cummins from behind. Witnesses said Ramsay fled the crash scene without seeking help for Cummins and later went Christmas shopping.

In the appeal, Robinson said there was no evidence presented during the three-day trial that Ramsay had illegal drugs in his system at the time of the fatal crash. Ramsay told police that prior to driving that day, he took a dose of methadone prescribed to him for a heroin addiction.

Prosecutors said marijuana and the prescription sedative Xanax were found in Ramsay’s blood tested 15 hours after the crash.

Ramsay was sentenced this month to serve 15 to 30 years in prison.