DAYTON — The trial of the driver involved in a wrong-way, triple fatal crash in 2019 entered its second day Tuesday. The main focus of the proceedings was a claim about the driver’s medical condition made the day prior.
Abby Michaels’ lawyers said during opening arguments Monday that seizures created the problems on St. Patrick’s Day 2019 and that she did not cause the crash that killed three members of a Mason family deliberately.
The Moraine Police officer who took the stand Tuesday was responsible for the crash reconstruction and collecting the information from the vehicles’ “black boxes.”
Sergeant John Howard shared details of his crash investigation of the crash on Interstate 75 that took the lives of Timmy, Karen, and 10-year-old Tessa Thompson. All three members of the family died of blunt-force trauma.
Howard showed the court how he recovered the event data recorders (EDR), otherwise known as “black boxes,” from the vehicles. He also showed Michaels’ vehicle steadily increased speed, going from mid-30s to 48 mph. All of this was designed to show that the then-21-year-old was in control of the vehicle and deliberately crossed through an emergency turnaround, driving the wrong way and steering only enough to line her vehicle up with the Thompson family’s vehicle.
When asked by prosecutors if the crash was head-on at the time of impact, Howard said “yes.”
Michaels’ defense team sees the crash much differently and asked the Moraine officer pointed questions, especially about her lack of braking and continued acceleration.
“The lack of braking could, in fact, be evidence of a medical condition, correct?” Tony Cicero, Michaels’ lawyer, asked.
That question caused an immediate sidebar with all the lawyers and Montgomery County Common Pleas Court Judge Steven Dankof.
“I don’t think [the witness] makes any claim to be a medical doctor, therefore I think the question is a bit a-field and therefore I have sustained the objection,” Dankof said.
Defense lawyers changed the question but still hinted Michaels was not in control.
“Data points for an EDR do not tell us anything whatsoever as to what was going on in that vehicle with the operator of that vehicle?” Cicero asked the officer, who responded and said that was true.
Prosecutors rested their case after Howard testified early Tuesday afternoon, but the defense case is not starting until tomorrow afternoon. Then, a doctor is scheduled to testify about Michaels’ medical condition.