BEN BRASCH

BBRASCH@NEWS-PRESS.COM

Jason Stewart was charged with manslaughter. A previous version of this story misstated the charge.

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The Cape Coral man accused of killing a bicyclist will never have his day in court.

The trial of Jason Stewart, 45, for manslaughter was set to start Feb. 29, a year and a half after investigators say he struck and killed 60-year-old cyclist Scott Johnsen.

But a bizarre slip-and-fall ended all that. A witness told the Cape Coral Police Department he saw Stewart "stumbling across Gator Circle" at De Navarra Parkway on Wednesday afternoon.

The witness said that when he asked Stewart if he was OK, Stewart cursed at him.

He said Stewart "took a few more steps then fell, got up and fell again face-down in a puddle," according to the Cape Coral police death investigation report.

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Another witness driving by saw Stewart hit his head and stopped to give him CPR until medics took him to Cape Coral Hospital, where a doctor pronounced him dead at 5 p.m.

Stewart fell less than 3½ miles from where he struck and killed Johnsen while driving a Corvette that Cape Coral police said had to be going at least 102 mph down Diplomat Parkway.

“He was always remorseful for it from Day One,” said Joe Viacava, the Fort Myers attorney who was representing Stewart.

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Viacava said he plans on giving the money used on the case back to Stewart's family, which includes a daughter.

He said Stewart had a motorcycle accident about 15 years ago that gave what he called the “nicest guy in the world" near-constant pain.

"This guy has been through hell and back, and you’d never know it," Viacava said. "My heart is broken."

But Johnsen's friends and family still hurt, too.

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Mike Swanson, past president of the Caloosa Riders Bicycle Club, saw Johnsen at bike club events for about three years. He said he heard the news he called bittersweet from Johnsen's wife of 27 years, Janice.

“I still can’t say I’m unhappy,” Swanson said. “She had mixed reactions. I think she’s comfortable with it ... she’s fine that she won’t have to go to trial."

Swanson said not only was Stewart spared from the courtroom but so were all those who knew Johnsen.

“You kind of want to see justice, but on the other hand, the trial would have not been fun with the pictures we would have to have seen from the crime scene,” he said.

Swanson said Johnsen was known for being a safety stickler. Johnsen blogged about his rides and did so days before the crash.

“There’s still somewhat of a closure because we don’t have to deal with it anymore," Swanson said. “He’s not out there to do any harm to anybody else."

He said he was at all pre-trial hearings.

“I was ready to see it out,” he said.

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