Butte Man Charged in Fatal Crash

BUTTE, Mont. (AP) — A Butte man is charged with vehicular homicide while under the influence for a Halloween 2013 crash that killed his passenger.

The Montana Standard reports (http://bit.ly/1oH1Qli ) 18-year-old Cody John Richards made an initial appearance in Justice Court on Tuesday. Prosecutors also filed an alternative charge of negligent homicide. Richards did not enter a plea. He was released on his own recognizance.

Prosecutors allege Richards was driving a sport utility vehicle too fast for icy conditions when it went off a county road and down a steep embankment, killing 19-year-old Kiel Podgorski.

The crash injured two other passengers.