A trucker has been acquitted in what was reportedly the first jury trial under Washington state's unsecured load law.

According to The Associated Press, a jury found Wilfredo "Jesse" De Jesus innocent of first-degree failure to secure a load. De Jesus' attorney argued that no one saw a metal ratchet fall off the trailer of his truck in East Wenatchee, WA, last August, and that it could have come from another vehicle.

Bruce Gearheart, Anamosa, IA, was killed when the metal strap ratchet went through the windshield of his car.

Washington's unsecured load law provides for misdemeanor charges in cases where unsecured objects cause injury or death.