Author Mark Turner
“What’s up man, you want to hit up the Longbranch tonight? Cool, I’ll get up with you later.” Ronnie ends the call and heads out on a beer run. After the last sip of Gin, Stan finishes up one of his many fan letters, drops it in the box, and starts to get ready for the night. “What’s good?” It was Ronnie’s cousin Squirrel on the line. “You okay with Stan going tonight?” “Yeah,” Squirrel says, “he’s got a sweet ride… we’ll let him drive! He let me drive that GT all last week, that thing is hot!” “Sounds like a plan! Let me go dude, bout to head in and get some cold beer.”
“911, what’s the nature of your emergency?“
“Yes, there is an overturned car, looks like maybe a Mustang, a red Mustang. I’m just off Highway 9. It’s down an embankment…I can see two people laying on the ground and one person still in the car. The two people on the ground are moving, but the one in the car looks bad!”
“Police and EMS are on the way ma’am.“
“Okay, I have my emergency flashers on, can you stay on the phone with me until they get here… it’s really dark and cold. I’m scared.”
“I’m here ma’am, try to calm down. Can you give me a description of the people involved, maybe what they’re wearing?“
“The one that’s lying near the car is wearing red jeans with a white T-shirt, and it looks like he has a black and green high-top sneaker on his left foot only, just a sock on the other. The other one out of the car has regular blue jeans on, and a green shirt with boots. It’s hard for me to see the guy in the car… looks like he has on jeans and some kind of black concert T-shit, I can see tour dates and make out the word “Shady”. Hey, the police are here, so I’ll hang up now.”
A lot is at stake here and we have quite a dilemma, three occupants involved in a single vehicle crash with one fatality and no idea who the driver is. The stakes begin to rise immediately, at the scene of the crash. What’s documented or not documented will affect the outcome of this case. It will affect the outcome of this case when everyone has gathered with suit and tie, when hands are placed on the Bible, and the truth is sworn to be told.
We’ve talked about proper collision scene documentation several times, but this time let’s talk about a few ways we can build a case like this and possibly identify beyond a reasonable doubt who was driving at the time of the wreck.
INTERVIEWS:
Some will have to wait as the investigation unfolds, but those that can be interviewed on scene are important. In this wreck, we know we have the 911 caller. Did she actually witness the wreck or just drive up on it? Patrons at the Longbranch probably could provide some insight, provided there’re willing to talk. Stan did sustain fatal injuries in the crash, but Ronnie and Squirrel may be able to give a statement. Expect this to typically be somewhere between deceptive, vague, or just not given at all, especially if some time has passed from the wreck to the interview. This is not an unusual occurrence due to occupant injury, but don’t be shocked when Squirrel and Ronnie both identify Stan as the driver, it’s his car! Let’s dive deeper!
THE VEHICLE:
What evidence may lie within, around, or on the vehicle that will help identify who was driving. Tell the wrecker driver to get the hooks off the overturned vehicle. Document everything you see first, with the vehicle still at final rest, then have the wrecker driver turn it over. Just make sure there is no power to the vehicle, or you could overwrite or add another Non-Deployment Event… sorry, I’m an EDR guy!
Direct DNA transfer by either touch or bodily fluid will be present for the vehicle occupants in their respective seating locations. Swab the areas that are typical for the driver to touch, such as the steering wheel, the gear shift, and the key or push start area. The DNA results for these typically come back as a mixture of two or more people. However, in this collision for example, if the DNA comes back to only Stan, then we can eliminate Ronnie and Squirrel as the driver. Conversely, if the results return as Stan, Squirrel, and say another unknown DNA profile, we’re off and running. Remember it’s Stan’s car, so we expect his DNA to be there. But wait, remember when we interviewed Squirrel, he said he had driven Stan’s car some last week, but he knew he wasn’t driving when they left the Longbranch. Hmmm… Now, if we get a steering wheel airbag deployment, the DNA results from that can be a millisecond time stamp of who was driving, particularly if there is only one profile present. Just make sure a DNA standard is secured from all occupants.
Both Stan and Squirrel were about the same size guys… 6’, 6’2” somewhere in there, around 200 pounds. Now Ronnie, he’s sawed off and short, measures about 5’2’, but he thinks he’s a giant when he gets him a pint. Having this in mind, we should probably measure the driver’s seat location. Maybe it’s way back, too far for Ronnie to reach. Maybe the seat is too close for Stan and Ronnie to even fit in the driver’s seat, much less drive. Find a friend who is 6’ and another who is 5’2” and put them in the driver’s seat of the involved vehicle. Who fits better? If the involved vehicle is not available or too damaged, get an exemplar vehicle and place the driver’s seat at the same distance measured in the involved vehicle. Who fits better?
Occupant injury patterns along with the vehicle’s interior and the transfer location of biological material should also be noted. This also becomes more difficult with rollover collisions and unrestrained occupants.
Steering wheel swab for touch DNA.
Gear shift swab for touch DNA.
Key area swab for touch DNA.
Driver’s seat location measured from the floorboard.
Driver’s seat location measured to the seat edge.
Due to the collision forces, the driver’s shoe may become pinned in the pedals. Is that a receipt?
THE EVIRONMENT:
The Longbranch is a rough place, the kind of place where the beer flows like wine, the kind of place where people like to fight and engage in general mayhem. I bet they have security cameras that face the parking lot. We need to check the Longbranch, but not just there. Maybe we find a receipt in the car from the Quickie Mart, with a time stamp shortly before the time of the collision. Did the guys stop off for more beer? I guarantee the Quickie Mart has a camera facing the front of the store… who got in the driver’s seat when they left?
WHO’S CAR IS IT?
I know, it’s Stan’s car and he was driving! I got it, and maybe he was driving. It may sound trite, but in a multi-occupant vehicle collision where the driver is initially unknown, it’s a good place to start. If the owner of the vehicle was one of the occupants, there’s a fairly high probability they are the driver. Of course, we’ll need further corroboration and that’s what we’re talking about, but don’t overlook the obvious.
Driver identification in a crash when the driver is not readily known can be risky business. If the crash involves multiple unrestrained occupants in a rollover collision, the task then becomes much more difficult. It’s risky because a lot is at stake, people’s lives, freedom, and money are on the line and the case will be based mostly on circumstantial evidence. That’s not a bad thing, circumstantial evidence is good evidence, but it must be built and layered, with overlapping findings to provide a fair investigation. Maybe, despite your best efforts, you can’t say who was driving. Maybe it was Stan, it is his car.
Mark Turner, ACTAR #2368, is the senior vehicle collision reconstructionist with Warren. Prior to joining Warren, he worked for 25 years as a South Carolina Highway Patrol Trooper including 10 years as a Multi-Disciplinary Accident Investigation Team (M.A.I.T.) leader (corporal). Mark is accredited as a Traffic Accident Reconstructionist by The Accreditation Commission for Traffic Accident Reconstruction (ACTAR). He investigated in excess of 900 vehicle accidents and incidents as a trooper. As a member of M.A.I.T. for 10 years, he was involved in over 1000 detailed investigations and collision reconstructions. Mark has been court qualified as an expert in accident investigation and collision reconstruction and, has testified multiple times. Mark is a member of the South Carolina Association of Reconstruction Specialists (SCARS), the International Association of Accident Reconstruction Specialists (IAARS), and the National Association of Professional Accident Reconstructionist (NAPARS).
