WKBT La Crosse, WI-NewsChannel 8-Boardman Guilty on All Charges

Boardman Guilty on All Charges

A La Crosse County jury has found a La Crosse woman guilty in the New Year's Eve hit-and-run death of a La Crosse man.

Thirty-eight-year-old Rhonda Boardman faces 15 years in prison for hitting 55-year-old William Harter with her van while he walked home on Clinton Street December 31.

The jury found Boardman guilty of failure to render aid causing death and obstructing an officer.

Boardman had requested that her bond be revoked, but that request was denied and she was taken into custody due to the severity of the charges.

Boardman is scheduled for sentencing July 22.

Previous Story - Updated Thursday at 3:16 pm

A La Crosse County jury is deliberating the case of a La Crosse woman on trial for allegedly hitting and killing a French Island man with her van New Year's Eve.

Thirty-eight-year-old Rhonda Boardman faces 15 years in prison if convicted of hit-and-run causing death. She is charged with hitting 55-year-old William Harter with her van while he walked home on Clinton Street December 31.

After La Crosse County District Attorney Tim Gruenke rested his case at the start of proceedings Thursday, defense attorney John Brinckman called Boardman to testify.

During testimony, Boardman described what happened in the days after the accident, including a conversation she had with her boyfriend, Mark Henke, at the bar where she worked.

"Mark came to the bar, and I took him in the back room and told him what one of our customers had said to me and that I thought maybe that it could have been me (that hit Harter) because I heard that noise on the side of my vehicle," Boardman said Thursday while on the stand.

Jurors in this case are not deciding if Rhonda Boardman hit William Harter. Both sides of the case have acknowleged that the evidence proves she did. What the jurors need to decide is if Boardman left the scene of the accident knowing that she had hit a person.