Witnesses testified Tuesday that a Tyrone man charged with homicide by vehicle while DUI was driving at the time of the crash which killed a passenger.
\nThe commonwealth concluded yesterday afternoon with presentation of its case against Jason Crowell, 24, who also faces charges of DUI and other motor vehicle violations from the April 14, 2005 one-vehicle crash on Route 45, Franklin Township.
\nThe jury was expected to get the case following closing argument this morning. Crowell told the court (without the jury present) he had decided not to take the witness stand.
\n\u201cI can assure you tomorrow morning you will be deliberating,\u201d Judge Stewart Kurtz told the jury as the first day of the proceeding concluded, shortly before 4 p.m.
\nCrowell is represented by Blair County attorney Tom Forr.
\nThe defense did not call witnesses yesterday. The commonwealth\u2019s case consisted of testimony from two passengers in the car (Tyrone residents Duane Day and Scott Borgess \u2014 brother of the woman killed in the crash), investigating state troopers, emergency responders and a woman who lives near the crash site.
\nFour witnesses testified Crowell was driving at the time Day\u2019s 1996 Mitsubishi Eclipse went off the roadway and partly over a guide rail.
\nSharon Reed, 18, of Warriors Mark, was killed in the crash after she was ejected from the back seat of the car and it came to rest on top of her. She was pronounced dead at the crash scene. The crash occurred shortly before midnight.
\nDay was also ejected through the rear window, police reported. State police reported a blood alcohol test showed Crowell had a BAC of .14 percent. Crowell and Borgess did not have drivers licenses at the time.
\nThirteen visitors were seated on the commonwealth\u2019s side of the courtroom while eight family members were seated behind Crowell.
\nIn his opening remarks, Huntingdon County District Attorney Robert Stewart III told the jury that \u201cjust because the case is short doesn\u2019t mean it isn\u2019t serious.\u201d
\n\u201cHe was at two times the legal limit. He was driving. He caused the accident,\u201d Stewart said of Crowell.
\nForr asked the jury to use its \u201ccollective common sense\u201d and said the commonwealth can\u2019t show beyond a reasonable doubt that Crowell was driving and said the commonwealth\u2019s witnesses, the ones in the car that night, have \u201csomething to lose\u201d in this case.
\nDay testified first for the commonwealth. He said he and Crowell had been drinking beer at his brother\u2019s Blair Avenue apartment following a day of work there remodeling the living space.
\nHe testified Mrs. Reed and Borgess stopped by and the four drove to a six pack shop so he and Crowell could get more beer. He said he then drove to Sinking Valley on back roads and that Borgess drove the car for about 10 minutes before Crowell took over the driving.
\n\u201cIs there any doubt in your mind as to who was driving at the time of the accident?\u201d Stewart asked.
\nDay answered \u201cno\u201d and stated where everybody was in the vehicle at the time of the crash, with Crowell driving; Borgess \u201cshotgun\u201d beside Crowell; and he and Reed in the back seat.
\nDay said he didn\u2019t recall Borgess or Reed drinking at the apartment or in the vehicle but saw them smoking marijuana at the apartment.
\nRecords entered into evidence showed Reed had ingested marijuana at some point prior to the crash.
\nBorgess, 17, (16 at the time of the accident) testified next but stated he and his sister smoked \u201ca pipe\u201d of marijuana together earlier that day, prior to going to the apartment. He said both he and Reed drank at the apartment.
\nBorgess testified Crowell was driving at the time of the crash and said everyone in the car asked him to slow down just before the crash. Crowell said he felt a jolt and then awoke to hear Reed yelling and attempted, unsuccessfully, to move the car which was upended over the guide rail. Borgess said he then blacked out and next remembers talking with Reed\u2019s husband who had responded with the fire police.
\nCross examined by Forr, both Borgess and Day said they don\u2019t remember exactly what roads they traveled on or for how long. Forr asked both witnesses if it isn\u2019t also true that they don\u2019t have a good memory of what happened that night.
\nBorgess testified that there was no stop at a Tyrone six-pack shop but that there was already beer in the back seat of the vehicle when they all went for a ride. He told Forr the marijuana he and his sister used was his but said he didn\u2019t know where he got it.
\nForr asked Day if he had a civil suit against Crowell or had contacted an insurance company about the crash and Day said he had, but then said he did not have a suit against Crowell. Asked by Stewart if he knew what a civil suit is, Day said \u201cno.\u201d
\nA Spruce Creek resident testified the accident happened about one-eighth of a mile from her home. She said the three survivors had called 911 on a cell phone but said she had to talk to the operator because they were not able to give their location to emergency responders.
\nA state police accident reconstructionist, testifying as an expert witness, said his investigation showed the vehicle had to be traveling between 62 and 77 mile per hour in the 55 mph zone and would not have been able to negotiate the curve on that section of Route 45 at that speed. He said a delay in the motorist beginning to turn into the curve is consistent with impairment by alcohol.
\nA paramedic with AMED of Altoona testified that Crowell complained of chest pain and that the type of injury he complained of is consistent with injury from impacting a steering wheel. An AMED EMT said he talked to Crowell in the course of responding to the crash.
\n\u201cHe (Crowell) told me he was the driver,\u201d the EMT said.
\nAlso called by Stewart to testify yesterday were Dr. Harry Kamerow, a pathologist who testified as an expert witness, and state police trooper Kenneth Butler, the investigating officer.
\nAsked by Stewart what his investigation revealed, Butler said, \u201cThe defendant was behind the wheel.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Witnesses testified Tuesday that a Tyrone man charged with homicide by vehicle while DUI was driving at the time of the crash which killed a passenger. The commonwealth concluded yesterday afternoon with presentation of its case against Jason Crowell, 24, who also faces charges of DUI and other motor vehicle violations from the April 14, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-41255","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-local-news-in-the-tyrone-pennsylvania-area"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/tyronepa.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41255","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/tyronepa.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/tyronepa.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tyronepa.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tyronepa.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=41255"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/tyronepa.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41255\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/tyronepa.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=41255"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tyronepa.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=41255"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tyronepa.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=41255"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}