Defense case to start in East Hanover fatal trial

   MORRISTOWN - The Morris County Prosecutor's Office on Monday rested its case against accused drunken driver Vanessa Brown and the defense lawyer expects to call on Tuesday a road design engineer and a rescue squad worker who evaluated Brown after the 2012 crash in East Hanover that killed Ralph Politi Jr.

On the 11th day of trial in Superior Court, Morristown, county Assistant Prosecutors John McNamara Jr. and Brian Kenney rested their case against Brown, 35, of Parsippany, who is charged with both aggravated manslaughter and vehicular homicide, which also is called death-by auto. Defense attorney Edward Bilinkas contends that Brown was not driving recklessly and the crash was an accident that should have been resolved through civil litigation, not at a criminal trial.

McNamara has argued and called witnesses to support the prosecution theory that Brown was exhibiting signs of intoxication a few hours before the crash -- by doing a U-turn on a lawn on Troy Road in East Hanover and behaving oddly at St. Rose of Lima Church where she had gone to attend the First Communion of a little girl she knows.

In his trial opening on March 2, Bilinkas stated that Brown was momentarily "distracted" and drove off the travel lane of Ridgedale Avenue in her Toyota Camry.  She struck Politi, a 49-year-old married father of twin daughters, as he stood between the open driver's side door and rear door of his Chevrolet pickup. The truck was parked in front of 30 Ridgedale Avenue in a legal parking spot that was parallel to the road shoulder.

The Prosecutor's Office crash reconstruction expert, Agent Gary Gouck, had testified he could not specify whether Politi was standing on the shoulder of the road or in a wedge of parking space beside his truck when he was hit at 1:48 p.m. on May 5, 2012.

Former Florham Park Rescue Squad member Tamara Eick previously testified that she smelled an odor of alcohol on Brown while riding with her in an ambulance to Morristown Medical Center. Bilinkas plans to recall Eick, who also -- according to Bilinkas -- said that Brown didn't have other characteristics associated with drinking, such as bloodshot eyes or slurred speech. Bilinkas has said that Brown allegedly told Eick she crashed when she leaned over while driving to retrieve her cell phone that had fallen on the passenger side floor.

Two and one-half hours after the crash, Brown's blood-alcohol level was .133 percent, or higher than the 0.08 percent at which a motorist is considered legally intoxicated in New Jersey.  Dr. John Brick, a forensic alcohol consultant called by the state, had testified that he calculated Brown's blood-alcohol content was likely between .11 percent and .16 percent at the time of the crash.

But Brick also conceded to Bilinkas that Brown could have downed the equivalent of four or five drinks in the 15 minutes before the crash and been technically sober because her body would not have absorbed the alcohol yet. There has been no testimony about what Brown drank and Brick had said that 40 ounces of beer is roughly equivalent to about five ounces of hard liquor, such as 80-proof liquor.

Aggravated manslaughter and vehicular homicide are essentially distinguishable by the level of recklessness involved.  A conviction for aggravated manslaughter carries a punishment of between 10 and 30 years in prison; a conviction for vehicular homicide carries a maximum punishment of 10 years in prison. Jurors have to decide which charge -- if either -- was proven by the state for Brown to be found guilty.

In considering both charges, jurors have to weigh whether Brown caused Politi's death by driving recklessly and that Politi would not have died but for Brown's conduct.

According to the law, a person acts recklessly when he consciously disregards a substantial and unjustifiable risk that death will result from his conduct.

It gets more complex: The law says the risk must be of such a nature and degree that, considering the nature and purpose of the defendant's conduct and the circumstances known to him, the disregard of the risk involves a gross deviation from the standard of conduct that a reasonable person would observe in the defendant's situation.

For Brown to be found guilty of aggravated manslaughter, the jury has to conclude unanimously that she recklessly caused death under circumstances manifesting extreme indifference to human life. The law says the phrase “under circumstances manifesting extreme indifference to human life” does not focus on defendant’s state of mind, but rather on the circumstances under which a jury finds she acted. If, in light of all the evidence, the jury finds that defendant’s conduct resulted in a probability as opposed to a mere possibility of death, then it may find that she acted under circumstances manifesting extreme indifference to human life, the law states.

Brown's case was delayed getting to trial for multiple reasons.  One of her earliest attorneys was suspended from practicing law and she was appointed a public defender, who argued motions to try to get evidence barred from trial. Her public defender got a promotion and Brown was assigned new counsel but then her family arranged for Bilinkas to be hired.  Trial court rulings on a few issues involving evidence and statements also were appealed to the state's Appellate Division, which put the case temporarily on hold.

   Staff Writer Peggy Wright: 973-267-1142; pwright@GannettNJ.com.