Update (09/21 2:30 p.m.) — Richard Scott, the man accused of driving the wrong way on I-5 and causing a crash that killed a 911 dispatcher in 2014 was found guilty of first degree manslaughter and DUII.
The unanimous verdicts were reached by the jury in under half-an-hour.
Medford, Ore. — The trial for a Grants Pass man accused of driving drunk in a wrong way crash that killed a 911 dispatcher in 2014 got underway in Jackson County Tuesday. Richard Scott is facing charges of manslaughter in the first degree, and DUII. During the first day of testimony, witnesses pieced together the events of March 27th, 2014.
“It looked liked a bomb exploded to me,” Phoenix police officer, T. Bailey told jurors Tuesday.
Witness, after witness, recalled a terrifying scene in the early morning hours of March 27th, 2014, when a minivan was going the wrong-way on I-5 South before crashing into a vehicle driven by Karen Greenstein. A wife, mother, and beloved emergency dispatcher. The district attorney’s office laying out a gruesome scene in opening statements.
“Ms. Greenstein was hit with such force, that not only was she ejected from her vehicle and died instantly, her chair, her seat was also removed from the vehicle,” Deputy District Attorney Melissa LeRitz said.
Police say the driver who hit her, was Richard Scott, a man with several DUI’s out of California. Witnesses who saw Scott before the crash testified that he seemed drunk.
“He was stumbling all over the place,” gas attendant, Jennifer McCulloch stated.
At times Scott grimaced as evidence was presented, and when the judge asked if he’d like to change out of his jail jumpsuit he refused.
“I guess it’s a way of protesting or something,” he told the judge.
Scott’s defense attorney was brief in his remarks – and didn’t dispute the facts of the case- asking only that the jury consider a lesser charge.
“One of them is manslaughter in the second degree, where the state has to prove that he acted recklessly, cut it off after recklessly.”
The trial will resume, Tuesday morning. The trial is expected to last 2 days. Scott has pleaded not guilty to the charges.
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