The bulky package’wrapped in brown paper and wound with orange ‘evidence? tape’sat behind the prosecution table most of the morning Monday as testimony began in Oakland County Circuit Court.
But when prosecutors lifted a scraped and dirty, yet distinctive motorcycle helmet from inside, a flood of emotion washed through the courtroom.
Vincent Owen D’Anna, 26, died at Genesys Hospital in the early hours of Aug. 27 after he was knocked from his motorcycle, trapped underneath an IROC Camaro and dragged along Sashabaw Road in Independence Township.
Trial for the man accused in his death began Monday.
Ramon Felix Pineda, an illegal immigrant authorities claim was driving with a blood alcohol level of .16’twice the legal limit’was bound over for trial by Judge Kelley Kostin after facing preliminary examination at Clarkston’s 52-2 District Court in October.
Pineda is charged with second-degree murder, and could face life in prison if convicted.
Chief Judge Wendy Potts is presiding over the trial in Circuit Court.
Eyewitness accounts of the crash, which took place near the intersection of Sashabaw and Clarkston Road just after 8 p.m. Aug. 26, differ in many small ways.
Essentially, however, the story sounds the same: The driver of a white 1992 Camaro revved his car’s engine repeatedly as he hit the 2007 Suzuki motorcycle D’Anna was riding, then hit it again, causing D’Anna to fall, then hit it again, rolling over D’Anna and trapping him between the car’s front and rear tires.
Larry Hartley was driving in the northbound lanes of Sashabaw Road and saw the Camaro hit D’Anna’s motorcycle several times.
‘As it hit the bike’s tire, the Camaro was pulling on the back end of the bike,? he said. ‘It was like a monster swallowing something up’taking a bite, taking a bigger bite, and pretty soon the car was on top and the guy on the bike was completely under the car.?
Witnesses were repeatedly cautioned against interpreting what the defendant was doing or thinking at the time of the accident, but nearly all accounts given Monday by those who saw the scene unfold said it appeared Pineda was attempting to flee.
Tires spun, white smoke puffed, and the car spun out, some said. Trapped underneath, D’Anna and parts of his bike rendered the car undriveable.
Witnesses also testified Pineda attempted to flee on foot after the car finally stopped.
‘He hopped out and started running,? said Brandon Wakeman, who was about to cross Sashabaw on foot and said the accident happened ‘right in front? of him. ‘I yelled ahead to some guys, ‘stop him, he just killed somebody.??
Wakeman said he then helped lift the car from a badly injured D’Anna.
‘I thought he was an African American, he was so black and blue,? Wakeman said. ‘If (Pineda) had stopped the first time he hit the bike, (D’Anna) would still be here today. There was nothing wrong with him (after the first impact)’he was not injured.?
Others gave similar, but more graphic and often disturbing testimony about D’Anna’s condition, including Independence Township engineer-paramedic Daniel White, who on Monday identified the distinctive Mohawk-topped helmet he removed from D’Anna at the crash scene.
Although unresponsive at the scene, White testified that D’Anna came around briefly during the ambulance ride.
‘He indicated he knew he was hit by a car, but said it wasn’t going to kill him,? White said. ‘He said he was going to be alright.?
D’Anna was transported to Genesys Hospital in Grand Blanc, where he was pronounced dead at 1:54 a.m., Monday, Aug 27.
Dr. Patrick Cho of the Oakland County Medical Examiner’s Office performed an autopsy Aug. 27 and testified D’Anna died from multiple blunt force injuries.
But from the other side of the courtroom Monday, defense attorney Elias Escobedo Jr. climbed into the witness stand during opening statements and spoke to the jury in Pineda’s voice.
Escobedo told of a 14-year-old boy who came to America with a dream, a boy who worked as a busboy and ‘didn’t ask for public assistance, didn’t try to get on welfare or anything like that.?
On August 26, he said, Pineda knew he made a ‘terrible mistake? by drinking and driving.
‘Hold him responsible,? Escobedo said. ‘I’m not asking you to set him free. He knows what he did was wrong, but he’s not guilty of second-degree murder. Desperate people do desperate things? the American dream is not so much of a dream as people think.?
Oakland County Assistant Prosecutor Rob Novy, however, said second-degree murder is the appropriate charge, given the defendant’s attempts to drive away from the scene, then his attempts to flee on foot.
To be successful, Novy must prove to the jury Pineda knowingly created a high risk of death or great bodily harm.
‘Testimony will show that the facts are clear,? said Novy. ‘He knew exactly what he was doing.?
Witness Fred Merz, who said he and his son both own motorcycles, testified he was so shaken by the event he hasn’t ridden his bike since.
?(D’Anna’s) legs were rolling under the car, mid-vehicle,? Merz said. ‘The car spun out sideways and the vehicle stopped because he couldn’t go any further.?
Merz told the court he got out of his vehicle, and looked up to see Pineda standing outside the Camaro ‘looking down at the legs underneath his car.?
Pineda, Merz said, passed close by as he began to run from the scene.
‘I said ‘you’re the driver, stop, stop,’? Merz recalled. ‘He said ‘no, no? and continued to run.?
Merz said when he caught up, he saw Pineda sitting detained in the parking lot near 7-Eleven with his hands to his head asking, in English, ‘Why me? Why me??
Pineda’s attorney contends his client does not have a solid grasp of the English language, although testimony has suggested otherwise.
Kathleen Merz, who also testified hearing Pineda speak in English, said she was ‘horrified.?
‘I remember grabbing my husband’s arm and saying ‘why doesn’t he stop?? she said. Although the defense later commented she didn’t seem the type to use strong language lightly, Kathleen Merz said she remembers feeling very angry at the scene.
‘I know I swore at him,? she said, describing the scene in the parking lot, where Pineda had been tackled and detained by witnesses. ‘I said ‘why didn’t you (f-ing) stop? What were you thinking???
Pineda is also charged with driving while intoxicated causing death, failure to stop at the scene of an accident, operating a vehicle with a suspended license and false certification of personal information to obtain a driver’s license.
Testimony is expected to conclude Friday.