Emotions hung heavy in Suffolk Superior courtroom 808 Wednesday, as legal professionals and witnesses rehashed many times the collection of occasions that led a van to fatally careen into 22-month-old Colin McGrath in 2018.
“The emergency’s at L Street and East 6th,” a person’s frantic voice on a 911 name from 4 years in the past rang out by the tense, packed courtroom. “A car crashed into a baby in a carriage on the sidewalk.”
The name was among the many first proof entered on the opening day of Charlene Casey’s trial.
Casey, 64, was driving her Toyota Prius on the intersection of East sixth and L streets in Southie on that July day. Rushing by the intersection, she allegedly mowed into a big inexperienced van, inflicting it to spin out into Colin McGrath, his 4-year-old sister and their nanny.
The sister sustained severe accidents together with damaged bones and a lacerated liver however survived. The nanny was reportedly not severely injured.
Casey was charged with murder by motorcar and pleaded not responsible in 2019.
“Four seconds on that day in July changed everyone’s life,” mentioned Casey’s protection lawyer Steven Boozang, calling the incident a “tragic and freak, unforeseeable accident.”
The opening statements laid out differing accounts of these essential moments — outlining particulars just like the exact location of the drivers, their sightline, their pace, their way of thinking.
“You’re gonna see evidence that will show that that van came out of nowhere and sped up, colliding with Ms. Casey,” Boozang mentioned.
Boozang emphasised the driving force of the van had marijuana within the automobile and informed “conflicting stories” to the police and grand jury.
“(Casey) could see for blocks — a clear, unobstructed line of sight for blocks,” mentioned Assistant District Attorney David McGowan. “The quickest look left, and she or he couldn’t miss this massive, inexperienced tank of a van.
“We’re here today because the defendant was negligent and did not operate her car safely,” he continued. “She could have seen this van. She should have seen this van.”
Witnesses Wednesday included drivers and pedestrians who responded to the accident and aided the injured kids, in addition to first responders on the scene.
“I began CPR on the small child and started the compressions first,” mentioned witness Mary Kate Shea, crying and breathless as she recounted the expertise. “Just kept talking to Colin, telling him his family loved him, we loved him and to keep fighting.”
Witnesses’ accounts of the accident itself conflicted incessantly — whether or not the van bounced off the fence or stopped quick, whether or not Casey paused on the intersection or rolled by.
“It was actually like a perfect storm,” mentioned Martin Scott McDonald, a driver on the scene who made the 911 name.
The roads have been nonetheless moist from the latest rain, McDonald and others concurred. Traffic was heavy alongside the commute. Street cleansing cleared out the parked automobiles usually blockading the sidewalk.
“Then it all came together very, very quickly,” McDonald mentioned, talking slowly. “The car was small, and the van was very heavy. And I believe the Prius struck the rear passenger side panel, just enough to bump it. It was kind of like slow motion; it just fishtailed enough due to the wet conditions.”
The van’s driver, Michael Racioppi, additionally took the stand Monday. Through rigorous questioning from the protection, Racioppi maintained he was not underneath the affect of medication through the incident and was going the pace restrict, “between 20 and 25.”
Both sides highlighted the significance of upcoming video of the scene and the police reconstruction specialists’ testimony. McGowan emphasised a police investigation had decided Casey’s operator error precipitated the accident.
“Don’t be distracted from the obvious,” McGowan informed the jury. “Charlene Casey’s negligence killed Colin McGrath.”
Source: www.bostonherald.com”