Continuously serving Kosciusko County since 1854
Edward L. Chivington had a weight lifted off his shoulders Wednesday night when a jury acquitted him of charges that he killed another man while driving drunk.
Chivington, 47, of North Webster, was able to go to sleep for the first time in nearly two years knowing that he would not be held criminally responsible for the death of 67-year-old Virgil Helman of Cromwell.
Helman died in an Oct. 22, 1997, accident in which his and Chivington's pickups collided on Ind. 13 after Helman made what police and court evidence indicated was an illegal left-hand turn in front of Chivington.
Chivington, who was en route home from a bar in Syracuse, was unable to avoid the collision. A blood test taken more than an hour after the accident revealed Chivington to have a blood-alcohol level of .188 percent - nearly two times the legal limit in Indiana.
Despite Deputy Prosecutor Dan Nelson's efforts to prove that Chivington actually caused Helman's death, the jury found Chivington not guilty of driving while having a blood-alcohol level of .10 percent or greater causing death and driving while intoxicated causing death, both Class C felonies. The six-man, six-woman jury deliberated less than three hours before handing down its verdict.
The key word in the charges against Chivington was that he caused Helman's death.
Defense attorney John Grimm of Auburn noted in his closing argument that two police officers testified that they did not accuse Chivington of causing Helman's death.
"In America, we are entitled to face our accusers ... we haven't found one yet," Grimm said. "I defy any of us in this courtroom to find anyone who has accused Mr. Chivington of causing this wreck."
Prior to that, out of the presence of the jury, Grimm told the court that the state had not proved its case and asked for, but was denied, a directed verdict in the case. That motion was made at the close of the state's case and again once all the evidence was in from both sides. In his second request, Grimm noted before Kosciusko Circuit Court Judge Rex Reed that the change in wording made in the drunk driving law in 1994 from "resulting in the death" to "causing the death" was the legislature's way "to tighten the law down to prove that the conduct directly caused the death of another person."
During cross-examination by Grimm on Tuesday, Sgt. Kip Shuter of the Warsaw Police Department testified in his capacity as president of Accident Investigations Inc. that Chivington perceived and reacted in an appropriate period of time permitted by the circumstances. It was determined Chivington had 1.42 seconds to make a decision between the time Helman crossed the center line until the collision occurred.
Shuter's testimony as to reaction and the fact that Helman made an improper turn was supported by defense witness Dr. Daniel Lee on Wednesday.
Lee, a faculty member at Michigan State University and a member of a corporation that does accident reconstruction, told the jury that the vehicle driven by Helman made a left-hand turn into a private driveway "and cut off the path of travel of the southbound Ford truck resulting in a fatal traffic accident." The southbound truck was driven by Chivington.
Lee also said it was his opinion that Chivington made the right choice by veering to the right. He said it is what drivers are taught to do and was what human nature causes a driver to do.
Given the time factors, Lee said, "That was the most sensible thing to do. In my opinion, the only thing to do."
Lee's conclusion was made regardless of the level of impairment Chivington may have been experiencing with a blood-alcohol level of .188 percent.
"I don't see anything in this collision that tells me there was any major malfunction in this accident caused by alcohol," Lee testified. "I'm not of the opinion that alcohol was a factor. ... What caused this accident is a left-hand turning vehicle. Nothing tells me the southbound Chivington vehicle contributed to this accident other than being there."
The case against Chivington was filed in Kosciusko Superior Court III but took place in Kosciusko Circuit Court. Reed was appointed in February to hear this matter after Judge Joe Sutton recused himself from the case in December.
Charges were filed against Chivington in December 1997 after a grand jury indictment.
