Continuously serving Kosciusko County since 1854
Whether or not the jury believes Edward L. Chivington caused the death of a Cromwell man in an Oct. 22, 1997, auto accident may be the deciding factor in his guilt or innocence.
Chivington, 47, is on trial in Kosciusko Superior Court III for the death of 67-year-old Virgil Helman.
Although the case is technically in Superior Court III, that court's judge, Joe Sutton, recused himself from the case in December and Kosciusko Circuit Court Judge Rex Reed was later appointed special judge in the matter. The proceedings are taking place in Reed's courtroom.
On Monday, jury selection took most of the day, with opening statements coming in about 2 p.m. and proceedings halted for the day about 4:30 p.m.
The state was able to present part of the testimony with its first witness, Cpl. Floyd Knafel of the Kosciusko County Sheriff's Department. Knafel took the stand again this morning.
Knafel testified that he never accused Chivington of causing the accident.
Nelson offered a qualification to that testimony, stating that Knafel was only there to investigate the accident and not to determine who was at fault.
Also testifying this morning was Joe Chivington, 23, North Webster, the son of the defendant.
The younger Chivington was behind his father when the accident occurred. Both men previously told police that Helman turned left in front of the elder Chivington, who was unable to avoid the collision.
In today's testimony, Joe Chivington said he and his dad went out for drinks the night of the accident. He said he saw his father consume five or six mixed drinks.
When the two left the bar, Chivington said, he was confident his father was not too drunk to drive.
"I felt he could do any standard thing that he needed to do on the road," Chivington testified.
He estimated he traveled five to six car lengths behind his father on the way home from the bar and didn't see his father take any evasive action prior to the collision.
"It just happened so fast there wasn't time to react," he said.
Taking the events of that night into consideration today, Chivington testified, he still would have allowed his father to drive home from the bar.
Opening statements Monday from Deputy Prosecutor Dan Nelson indicated that the state would present evidence pointing to Chivington's guilt, including taped statements from both Chivington and his son, noting that the two men were drinking at a Syracuse bar for nearly three hours prior to the 3 a.m. accident.
However, evidence presented to a grand jury in December 1997 in which Chivington was indicted in this case reportedly indicated that Helman's pickup was in park when it was hit and that Chivington's speedometer was stuck at 90 mph.
Previous statements made also indicated that there were no skid marks at the scene, but much of the testimony presented Monday centered around the fact that there were skid marks, likely from Edward Chivington's pickup, prior to the impact with Helman's pickup. Skid marks were also reportedly present from Joe Chivington's pickup.
Nelson emphasized to the six-man, six-woman jury that he would prove beyond a reasonable doubt Helman "was dead as the result of a collision caused by the defendant."
Chivington's attorney, John Grimm of Auburn, countered Nelson's statements on the cause of the accident, stating that Helman "made a left-hand turn right directly in front of him ... an illegal left-hand turn in front of traffic so closely as to create an immediate hazard." Grimm said a major element of the case is "causing Mr. Helman's death ... not just being there unable to avoid a tragedy."
Grimm added: "This was a tragic accident ... but Edward Chivington didn't cause this accident or cause the death of Virgil Helman."
Knafel testified that the night of the accident was clear, with no adverse weather conditions and that visibility was good in both directions.
The state had some problems getting a photograph of scuff marks near the impact site admitted into evidence, with Grimm objecting that no basis was laid to show where the picture "occurred in relation to the accident in the whole scheme of things." He said, "The proper foundation has not been laid yet to link this up."
Once that groundwork was laid, Grimm said, he didn't object to admission of the photograph.
At the time it was announced that a grand jury would be called in this case, then-prosecutor David Kolbe told media it would be a challenge to try to prove Helman's death was due to a drunk driver. Chivington's blood-alcohol level was reportedly .188 percent when a test was administered more than an hour after the accident. However, a law that took effect July 1, 1997, put the proof on the prosecution that the death was caused by a drunk driver, not just that the death resulted from a DWI.
Although proceedings got off to a slow start, Reed told jurors that things should go more smoothly during the rest of the five-day trial. Also expected to testify for the state are emergency medical technicians, hospital personnel, the county coroner, an accident reconstructionist and a doctor with the Department of Toxicology.
The defense will also bring in an accident reconstructionist and various experts to refute testimony presented by state witnesses.
