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Van Driver Convicted Of 2nd-Degree Murder In Motorcycle Death

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By THOMAS W. KRAUSE

The Tampa Tribune

Published: July 11, 2008

TAMPA - John Michael Meek, known to friends by his motorcycle name, "Uncle Ugly," is dead but far from forgotten.

Moments after a jury took 45 minutes to find Harry Brian Taylor guilty of second-degree murder in Meek's death, Meek's family said he remains very much alive in their hearts.

"He's there," said Meek's mother, Ella Chesser, 74. "I go by where he was killed every week. I cross the bridge where I buried him and I pass by his house to go to a cousin's. ...He may be dead, but he's there."

"Every time I hear a Harley, I think of my brother," Keith Meek, 47, said Thursday afternoon.

Prosecutors contend Taylor, who did not know Meek, met him in a Riverview bar in 2007 and grew agitated when Meek ignored his attempts at conversation.

Witnesses on Wednesday testified that Taylor, 38, was friendly as he played pool at James' Place but changed his mood when Meek, 52, entered the bar, dressed in blue jeans, a black leather vest and a bandanna.

Taylor, witnesses said, began to say that Meek wasn't a "real biker" and that he could take Meek in a fight.

About 3 a.m. Aug. 29, Meek began to leave on his Harley Davidson motorcycle. In the parking lot, Taylor told two people that he was thinking about following Meek and running him down.

Taylor, driving his GMC work van, left in the same direction as Meek.

Minutes later, someone found Meek lying on the road next to his broken motorcycle. Prosecutors said Meek was rammed from behind and run over.

He died about an hour after he was found.

Defense attorneys pointed out that several of the witnesses were drunk when they heard Taylor talking in the parking lot. They also tried to show that any collision between Taylor's van and Meek's motorcycle was accidental.

Wiley Howell, a former Tampa police sergeant who now works as an accident reconstruction specialist, testified for the defense that Meek's motorcycle was braking at the time of the collision, as was Taylor's van. He said he could tell by the tire marks left on the road and on the front of the van.

Howell also questioned the quality of the brakes on Taylor's van.

A Hillsborough County sheriff's detective, however, testified that the problems with the van's brakes were minor and that he drove the van a week after the accident. The brakes worked fine, he said.

Prosecutors acknowledged that Meek had cocaine and alcohol in his system when he died but that did not contribute to the collision.

After the two-day trial, the jury convicted Taylor of second-degree murder.

Taylor had been convicted of the same charge once before.

In 2001, he was released from prison after serving 12 years of a 40-year sentence for stabbing a 60-year-old Marion County man. Taylor was trying to steal the man's car.

Since Taylor's previous conviction, Florida law has changed. Prisoners now must serve at least 85 percent of their sentences.

Taylor faces up to life in prison when he is sentenced July 30. There is no longer a possibility of parole for a life sentence.

"At least there is some justice," said Meek's sister, Shannon.

"He won't do this to another family."

Reporter Thomas W. Krause can be reached at (813) 259-7698 or tkrause@tampatrib.com.

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