Hit and run that severely injured city jogger heads to jury trial next month

Joyce Howard (Rochester Police photo)

DOVER - A Rochester woman accused in an October 2022 hit and run that left a Rochester jogger with severe spinal injuries will face a jury trial next month in Strafford Superior Court.
Joyce Howard, 69, of Mcduffee Street, was indicted in March on charges of conduct after an accident and second degree assault, both of which carry three and a half- to seven-year prison stints.
Severely injured in the accident was Rochester resident Matt Lefebvre, who was jogging a little before 6 a.m. on Oct. 11, 2021, when he was struck while crossing a street near Burger King on North Main Street.
He suffered three spinal cord injuries, nine broken ribs, a broken sternum and clavicle, a punctured lung, nerve damage to his left side and a severe laceration that went from ear to ear on top of his head that took 25 staples to stop the bleeding.
Strafford County Assistant Attorney Emily C. Garod said the trial will begin on Feb. 22 and is expected to run four days.
Howard's defense lawyer, Alfred T. Catalfo II, told the court his client has no recollection of the incident at a hearing in Strafford County Superior Court last April.
Meanwhile, Lefebvre continues his recovery at home. At a January 2022 benefit held at the Governor's Inn he told The Rochester Voice he was moving around with little pain and getting better day by day.