(Rochester, N.Y.) -- The trooper who reconstructed the accident scene testified the Ford Fusion driven by an off-duty Greece Police Officer was going between 75 and almost 78 miles per hour when it struck a stalled Hyundai on route 390 last June.
Trooper Robert Miller testified the impact crushed the rear of the vehicle 69 inches, collapsing the back seat against the driver’s seat. The driver of that car, Alexis Sharp, suffered severe internal injuries and went into premature labor.
Sgt. Nick Joseph is charged with leaving the scene of the accident and with driving while under the influence of alcohol and cocaine.
The defense takes issue with the calculations used to determine the speed. Under questioning by attorney Larry Andolina, Trooper Miller admitted he did not take measurements of a third vehicle which struck the Hyundai after Joseph’s car.
But Assistant District Attorney Sandra Doorley says that car collision happened “after the fact" and would not have any impact on the mathematical formula used to determine the speed of Joseph’s car.
Doctor Jeanne Beno, a toxicologist from the Monroe County Medical Examiner's Office, concluded that traces of cocaine were found in five blood spots cut from the driver's side airbag of the Ford driven by Joseph.
Judge Francis Affronti has ruled the tests are scientifically valid.
One issue was the fact that the car was not immediately impounded.
Defense attorneys say several people including a homeless man, a known drug user, had access to the vehicle during the four days before it was impounded by police.
Joseph’s attorney Larry Andolina said, “There’s a gap…a period of time in which people had access to the vehicle, when it was not in police custody.” That’s when evidence could have been tainted, he said.
“I believe testimony shows that even though people had access to the car, there was absolutely no tampering, with the airbag in particular,” counters Doorley.
The judge ruled just because someone may have had access to the car doesn't mean they had contact with it -- and ruled the evidence was admissible.
Because it is a bench trial, the judge in this case will also decide the verdict.
Prosecutors indicate they will finish calling witnesses on Wednesday.
