FAYETTEVILLE -- The black box in a 2008 Chevrolet Tahoe recorded the vehicle going about 75 mph when it rolled, ejecting and killing a passenger, an Arkansas state trooper testified Tuesday in the manslaughter trial of a Springdale man in Washington County Circuit Court.
Kenneth Cole Sizemore, 22, was driving the vehicle west on Wedington Drive when he over-corrected after crossing the center line and hit a curb, causing the vehicle to go back across both lanes then roll, according to police records. The accident happened about 11:45 p.m. Jan. 12, 2013, in front of Ozarks Electric Cooperative, 3641 Wedington Drive.
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"He did not cause the accident," Jim Evans, defense attorney told jurors. "He did not cause that young man's death."
Zachary Tyler Hagan of Fayetteville was 20 when he died. Hagan wasn't wearing his seat belt and was ejected from the vehicle, according to police. He was a student at the University of Arkansas and a Springdale High School graduate.
Griffith Smith, 20, of West Fork was also a passenger in the vehicle, police said. Smith was treated for minor injuries.
Fayetteville police documents say a blood test showed Sizemore had Difluoroethane, Oxycodone, Alprazolam and marijuana in his system at the time of the wreck. Difluoroethane is used in canned air and is commonly "huffed" in order to get high, according to an affidavit for Sizemore's arrest. Two air dusters were found at the scene of the crash.
"The canned air got my attention as a possible cause of the accident," Cpl. Kurtis Sutley, a Fayetteville police officer, testified Tuesday.
A receipt found on Hagen showed three cans were bought at 11:33 p.m. at Walmart on Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard just minutes before the crash on Wedington.
Sizemore told police he hadn't done any drugs in the days leading up to the fatal crash and initially denied the three had stopped at Walmart. Sizemore denied "huffing" and told police he was driving but lost control after hitting a patch of ice. Police said it was cold but there was no ice on the road that night.
Smith told police, on two occasions after the crash, that three cans 0f air duster were bought and all three men were huffing from them before the wreck. Tuesday, he said he was traumatized and doesn't remember anything leading up to the wreck or talking to police.
Trooper Bobby Clemence, an accident reconstruction expert, said the Tahoe's black box showed the brakes weren't engaged in the last 2.5 seconds before it began to roll and the throttle was 100 percent engaged. It showed Sizemore's seat belt was engaged but Hagen's seat belt wasn't.
"If it's a deployment event, it will lock that event (in the data unit's memory) most of the time," Clemence said. "The rollover was probably the first event, with the side-curtain airbags and seat belt tensioners."
Clemence said the black box showed the Tahoe accelerating steadily from 66 mph and 95 percent throttle 2.5 seconds before the airbags deployed to 73 mph and 100 percent throttle a half-second before it started to roll. The vehicle's rollover sensor logged 75 mph.
Jack McQuary, a special prosecutor, was appointed to prosecute the case after prosecutors in Washington County declared a conflict. Zachary Hagan was the son of Brett Hagan, a detective with the Washington County Sheriff's Office who has worked closely with prosecutors for several years.
If convicted, Sizemore faces three to 10 years in prison and fines of up to $10,000. He 's free on $100,000 bond while awaiting trial. The trial, before Circuit Judge Mark Lindsay, is set to resume this morning.
NW News on 02/18/2015