BISMARCK, N.D. — A semi driver serving a prison term for causing a crash in the North Dakota oil patch that killed two people has lost his appeal to the state Supreme Court.
Sixty-five-year-old Douglas Landis, of Dagmar, Montana, is serving 1 1/2 years following his conviction last August on two counts of negligent homicide.
His semi veered over the center line on a snow-covered Highway 23 bypass in New Town and collided head-on with a pickup truck in October 2018. Authorities said Landis had been working for 24 of the previous 28 hours before the crash, the Bismarck Tribune reported.
The collision killed pickup driver David Wilcox, 28, of Tempe, Arizona, and passenger Taylor Denny, 22, of Phoenix. Landis was not injured.
A judge also sentenced Landis to three years of probation following his prison time.
Landis argued in his appeal that the district court abused its discretion in denying his motion for acquittal. Supreme Court justices concluded “that the verdict is supported by substantial evidence” and upheld his conviction.