Robo Tripping Trial: Victims Take Stand - 13WHAM-TV

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Robo Tripping Trial: Victims Take Stand - 13WHAM-TV
12-06-2010 07:54 PM



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[koala infestation... robots]

full text from the link above:

Robo Tripping Trial: Victims Take Stand


Geneseo, N.Y. --- Anita and James Stefano described the head-on crash they were involved in on July 4, 2009 as “a nightmare” and spoke about how they remained in the hospital for a month while being treated for broken bones throughout their bodies.

Monday morning Anita and James Stefano of Livonia, both in their mid-70’s, were called to testify in the criminal trial of Kury Spencer. Spencer was behind the wheel of a Cadillac Escalade that struck the Stefano’s Buick head-on on Routes 5 & 20 in the Town of Avon around 1 p.m. Following their testimony Livingston County District Attorney Tom Moran rested his case.

One theory in this case suggests that Spencer was Robo tripping on cough syrup at the time he was behind the wheel of that Escalade. Another theory suggests Spencer intentionally struck the Stefano’s car head-on.
Spencer’s lawyer, Greg McCaffrey, asked the Judge on Monday to dismiss certain charges against his client. Livingston County Court Judge Dennis Cohen agreed with some of McCaffrey’s arguments and did rule to dismiss two of the ten charges in the indictment. McCaffrey begins presenting his case to the jury Tuesday morning.

Stefano’s Take Stand
“Then I said to my wife I think we’re dying,” James Stefano, 76, told the jury while describing the moments immediately after that crash last year. Stefano said he saw Spencer’s white Escalade weaving in and out of oncoming traffic before the crash occurred; he said he even remembers seeing the undercarriage of that Escalade as it traveled over his Buick before rolling off the roof.
James Stefano’s injuries included a broken collarbone, broken pelvis bone, a fractured hip socket in three places, a broken knee, broken ribs, and nerve damage throughout his right leg and foot. James’ wife Anita told the jury she suffered a severely broken neck, broken wrist, compound fractures to each femur (thigh bone,) cracked ribs on both sides of her body, broken toes, a ruptured artery in her chest, as well as an infected knee.
"You're looking at a couple who has been robbed of the rest of their life,” Livingston County District Attorney Tom Moran said following the couple’s testimony. “These were vibrant, active seniors and this crash has relegated them to almost doing nothing but staying home."
"You can't cross-examine them,” Greg McCaffrey, Kury Spencer’s lawyer said. “They are victims in the truest sense of the word. Both Kury and myself have kind of dreaded this day since we knew we were going to trial."
The Stefano’s declined to be interviewed following their testimony but their son, James Stefano Jr., said that his parents wanted to pass along their heartfelt thanks to witnesses and good Samaritans who helped them after that crash.


2 Charges Dismissed
A minor victory for the defense came after D.A. Tom Moran rested his case Monday morning. McCaffrey argued to the judge that certain charges in the indictment should be dismissed on various grounds. Specifically, charges of Attempted Assault in the 1st Degree and Reckless Endangerment in the 1st Degree accuse Spencer of trying to run a driver (June McClarrie) off of Interstate 390 that July 4th day. These charges reference a time period just prior to Spencer’s exiting in Avon onto Routes 5 & 20 where the crash occurred.
McCaffrey argued in court that 9-1-1 calls from McClarrie, as well as McClarrie’s own testimony last week at trial, prove that if Spencer did try to force McClarrie off of I-390 with his erratic driving then it would have occurred in Monroe County, not Livingston County. On the 9-1-1 tape McClarrie is heard describing landmarks she’s passing and that Spencer was a half-mile or mile ahead of her on I-390.
Judge Cohen listened to those calls again in court, outside the presence of the jury, and agreed to dismiss those two counts. McCaffrey argued the same for identical charges that name yet another victim (Joseph Makus) who Spencer passed on I-390 that day. Judge Cohen declined to dismiss those charges saying that is a matter of fact that the jury should decide.


Tuesday Testimony
Defense lawyer Greg McCaffrey will begin calling witnesses Tuesday morning now that Livingston County District Attorney Tom Moran is done presenting his case. McCaffrey said he will call a pharmacology expert to the stand and he expects that witness to offer a different interpretation of blood analysis and Dextromethorphan levels found in Spencer’s blood following the crash.
On Friday Dr. Jean Beano the Chief Toxicologist for the Monroe County Medical Examiner’s Office testified for the prosecution. Dr. Beano said that Spencer’s blood contained more than six times the levels of Dextromethorphan than an average person’s blood would contain after that person drank an entire bottle of cough medicine.
"I believe he (the witness) is going to strongly dispute what Dr. Beano said last Friday and show that this Dextromethorphan really isn't what she said it is and that my client's level isn't that high and there's no way to attribute what he drank, how he drank it, and how he would drive,” McCaffrey said. “So essentially we're left with a car accident that has nothing to do with cough syrup at all.”
"She (Dr. Beano) has more experience in the area of driving under the influence of substances than anyone I know,” D.A. Moran said. “And I believe that she is the perfect witness in that she is a true, true scientist.”

[maggot titss]

WTF this happened in my area...13WHAM is my news station. I've never ever heard of this. Insane

[anarchogen]

cars are insane\

[Maitri Yarrow]

Originally Posted by anarchogen

cars are insane\

Amen. I think its really ironic that our society collectively blames intoxicants for any and all automobile accidents, as if there wasn't already an extreme danger present by even being in a car.

Don't get me wrong, I'm certainly not saying that inebriated driving is innocuous, but neither is any kind of driving.

[anarchogen]

Originally Posted by Maitri Yarrow

Amen. I think its really ironic that our society collectively blames intoxicants for any and all automobile accidents, as if there wasn't already an extreme danger present by even being in a car.

Don't get me wrong, I'm certainly not saying that inebriated driving is innocuous, but neither is any kind of driving.

yeah man, ill never a drive a car, nor could i ever afford too, and i wouldn't trust my physical body to do it safety at all times, sober or not.
i definitely don't want to end up hurting a innocent person or myself haha.
fuck cell phones too

[the_woods]

even if all drugs were legal, there'd be idiots fucking it up for everyone.

even if NO drugs were legal, there'd be fucking idiots screwing it up for everyone.

even if cars were off the road and there were no roads or if we had fully automated transit systems only in place, there'd be freakin accidents and freak-statistical shit goin on.

at least let us enjoy the insane unpredictability of the universe the way we want to- government is total bullshit, the internet should be the government, and america freakin sucks. laws are total bullshit.

RON PAUL FOR 2012!!

xD but for reals, i wanna get the hell out of this cuntry and travel lol.

[anarchogen]

^ people are gonna die everyday no matter what haha

[the_woods]

Originally Posted by anarchogen

^ people are gonna die everyday no matter what haha

i like your signature lol.

yeah dude, i don't know, i mean i just take drug laws real personally i guess. and the police. actually probably just the police, the DEA, the Narcs, FBI, CIA, government, etc. Laws tick me off because it's not like I agreed to them but I have to abide by them cuz people wanted it that way 50 or 100 years ago.

It's nice to say we're in a democracy, but it's got nothing to do with what we want, just what the big corporations, people paying senators, and foreign interests (anyone with a load of money) want. Democracy is the perfect guise for leading blind fish to the mouth of the shark, ya know.

'fuck it, fight it- it's all the same'

[dawhiterabbit]

ya i know where that is....im from ny myself. i dont live there anymore though

but 6 times what would have been on an 8oz? he would be almost in the 4th plat with that.