Judge to render ruling following hit-and-run jogger restitution hearing

Joyce Howard is escorted from the courtroom by bailiffs after her sentencing in Strafford Superior Court on May 1, 2023. (Rochester Voice file photo)

DOVER - The Rochester woman who was sentenced to one and a half to three years in state prison for running over a jogger in October 2021 was in court on Thursday for a restitution hearing for the pain, suffering and medical bills that the victim has had to shoulder since his body was literally crushed under the weight of her vehicle.
During sentencing in May 2023 Strafford Superior Court Judge Daniel E. Will said the actions of Joyce Howard, 70, of Mcduffee Street, on Oct. 11, 2021, wrought "terrible consequences" on Mat Lefebvre of Rochester.
The jury took less than two hours to find her guilty of second degree assault and leaving the scene of an accident.
Howard was found guilty of striking - then running over - Lefebvre as he jogged across McDuffee Street at the corner of North Main Street a little before 6 a.m.
After Howard's vehicle struck him and knocked him down, she paused before running over him, leaving him with 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.
Lefebvre said during sentencing that due to his injuries, especially a rib that didn't heal correctly, he can play few recreational activities because if he falls he could be "permanently paralyzed or worse."
After three months in state prison Howard was transferred to a transitional housing unit in Manchester.
During Thursday's hearing Deputy County Attorney Emily Garod told The Rochester Voice that Lefebvre testified to his injuries and bills.
Judge Will took the testimony under advisement, and it is expected he will render a ruling in the near future.