Published Friday, August 22, 2008 2:14 AM
By MATTHEW WATKINS
A lawyer for a man accused of losing control of his vehicle during a highway race and injuring a 12-year-old girl questioned Thursday whether authorities adequately investigated the crash.
Only one Department of Public Safety trooper responded to the Sept. 8 wreck on Texas 21, and the trooper did not perform sufficient sobriety tests or fully investigate the accident, defense attorney Jim James said.
Pablo Castillo, 32, of College Station faces a second-degree felony charge of racing on the highway and causing serious bodily injury. The charge is punishable by between two and 20 years in prison, but Castillo could be eligible for probation, lawyers said.
Prosecutors rested their case Thursday after former DPS Trooper Ralph Ohlen testified.
Ohlen provided jurors with a diagram, which was later disputed by an expert witness for the defense, that showed how he thought Castillo caused a chain-reaction collision that resulted in multiple injuries. Castillo is on trial specifically for the injuries suffered by a 12-year-old girl.
The girl's mother testified Wednesday that her daughter was forced to eat with a syringe for weeks after the accident because of a separated jaw.
The former trooper said he heard Castillo brag about racing his truck while being booked into the Brazos County Jail.
James said Ohlen performed only one roadside sobriety test on Castillo. Ohlen did not mark the vehicles' locations on the road for further investigation, take Castillo's blood at the scene or know the name of the first Bryan police officer to arrive at the wreck.
The Bryan officer left soon after Ohlen arrived, the trooper said, because he had to go to another call.
James also pointed out that many conversations involving Ohlen and Castillo were taped but that those recordings don't include the conversation in which Ohlen says Castillo admitted to racing.
"The only place where these statements were made was at booking," where no recordings were made, James said.
Lawyers for both sides plan to present their closing arguments Friday morning.
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Posted by: On: 8/22/2008
Comment Title:
Another college station drunk. it's a wonder he didn't stab some body.
Posted by: On: 8/22/2008
Comment Title:
This Mexican SOB should get the full 20 years! Justice web shows this was his second DWI. The state suspended his license but a judge gave him a provisional license so he could drive to work. He has to work so he has money to buy more alcohol. Am I the only one that is sick and tired of seeing all the headlines about drunk Mexicans killing or injuring innocent people on the highways?
Posted by: Reality On: 8/22/2008
Comment Title: Get a Life
one field sobriety test is not conclusive - only a breathalyzer is proof of level of intoxication if any - saying your ABCs backward while standing on one foot with the other foot up behind your back, at the same time as crossing your eyes and trying to point at your eye with your finger (or whatever they do!) is hardly a sobriety test - a sober man cannot do those tests - if you don't believe me, just try to do some of the ridiculous tests they do "in the field" - I agree with Patricia - the man is innocent until they prove him guilty. So far it sounds like Jim James is doing a good job to me and he probably is very expensive, but if you are innocent, you are forced to hire the best if you can
Posted by: PATRICIA On: 8/22/2008
Comment Title: DON'T HATE
THIS MAN, DOESN'T MATTER WHAT RACE IS INNOCENT TILL PROVEN GUILTY. DON'T BE A HATER CAUSE YOU PROBALY CAN'T AFFORD GOOD REPRESENTATION, AS HE HAS!!!! HAHA
Posted by: On: 8/22/2008
Comment Title:
GUILTY
Posted by: On: 8/22/2008
Comment Title: Accident investigation
I see good old Jim James is still up to his tricks. He cares nothing about the young lady, or about how badly she was injured, or how much money his client cost the young lady or her family. All he is concerned with is confusing the jury enough to get his client found not guilty. There is absolutely no reason for the defendant to be given more than one field sobriety test, and it makes not one whit of difference if the trooper can't remember the first name of a Bryan police officer. I'm surprised good ol' Jim isn't alleging that his client wasn't even there..........
Posted by: Pablo Cruise On: 8/22/2008
Comment Title: Only one trooper
There was only one accident... would be nice if defense attorneys would actually represent the defendant and not just try to get them all off the hook.
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