A judge is considering granting acquittal or a new trial to Michael Shane Lester, who was convicted of murder linked to a 2023 traffic crash that killed a Topeka woman.

Lester submitted separate requests seeking those last year to Shawnee County District Court Judge Jason E. Geier, who on Jan. 29 scheduled a half-day evidentiary hearing in the case to take place at 9 a.m. May 9, court records show.

A jury last May convicted Lester, 40, of crimes that included first-degree murder linked to a two-vehicle crash that killed Alycia A. Noriega , 33, of Topeka.

What happened in the crash?

A charging affidavit in the case alleges an on-duty, uniformed Topeka officer driving a marked patrol car tried to pull Lester over Oct. 30, 2023, after he saw him put on his seat belt while he was alone stopped in a blue Dodge Durango at a traffic light in northeast Topeka.

Lester sped away driving recklessly and the officer deactivated his emergency equipment, choosing not to pursue him, the affidavit said.

It said the blue Durango was then caught on security camera video going west past a business in the 1300 block of N.W. Topeka Boulevard.

One minute later, the affidavit said, the Durango was involved in a crash at N.W. Tyler and St. John with a 2015 Subaru Forester driven by Noriega, who was alone. The driver of the Durango fled on foot, it said.

Noriega was taken to a Topeka hospital, where she was pronounced deceased that afternoon, the affidavit said.

Lester, who said he wasn't driving the Durango, was subsequently arrested at a house in Topeka.

He was found guilty of one count each of first-degree murder in the commission of a felony, reckless but unintentional second-degree murder, fleeing or attempting to elude a law enforcement officer by engaging in reckless driving and failure to stop at the scene of an accident known to result in death.

Lester filed a 21-page motion last June making various arguments as to why Geier should set aside the verdict against him on all counts.

What has happened with the lawsuit involved?

Topeka attorney L.J. Leatherman, representing two conservators for Noriega's children, filed a lawsuit last October against Allstate Fire and Casualty Insurance Co., which he said refused to pay survivor's benefits to those conservators.

The motion said Noriega was driving a vehicle insured by Allstate, which contended it wasn't required to pay such benefits because Noriega wasn't insured to drive that vehicle. Leatherman disagreed, saying Noriega was covered by the policy involved because she drove the vehicle with the owners' permission.

Allstate subsequently agreed to pay all insurance benefits being sought by the conservators for Noriega's children, Leatherman said in a court document filed last December.

Contact Tim Hrenchir at [email protected] or 785-213-5934.