COLORADO SPRINGS, COLO. -- The trial for the woman accused of dragging a tow truck driver to his death in February 2011 continued Tuesday with jurors being shown the scene where the dragging took place.
Members of the jury were bussed from the El Paso County Courthouse to the Hill Park Apartments where Detra Farries allegedly began dragging tow truck driver Allen Rose.
Colorado Springs Police officers as well as El Paso County Sheriff's deputies blocked off access points to the apartment complex as jury members assessed the scene. A black Suburban and tow truck were also staged in the parking lot, allowing jurors to take note of what the scene was like on Feb. 23 last year.
Attorneys in the case were also present during the tour as was Farries who, at one point, appeared to be crying as she watched jurors.
The 12-member jury was then escorted by authorities along the entire route Farries allegedly drove when Rose was being dragged. Detectives estimate Rose was dragged approximately 1.4 miles from the complex to the intersection of Platte Avenue and Babcock Road. He died on the way to the hospital.
A roadside memorial built for Rose was covered during the tour so the jury would not be unfairly influenced.
The jury's tour continued the path witnesses said Farries drove after Rose was freed from the tow cable. Along the path, near Babcock and Edison Street, Rose's shoes were laid out where police reportedly found them during their investigation. The tour ended in the neighborhood where Farries was arrested, near Maxwell Road east of Murray Boulevard.
Members of the jury were taken to the scene of the alleged crime after a morning in court in which Farries' lawyer spent time grilling police detectives in cross-examination for misplacing evidence.
Detective Mike Montez took the stand Tuesday morning. He was the officer who interviewed Donald Hearn and Christopher Dunlap, two witnesses who testified earlier in the trial. Montez agreed with the defense attorney, saying Hearn and Dunlap are the only witnesses to the interaction between Farries and Rose prior to the dragging.
During cross-examination, Farries' attorney quickly switched the subject to the misplaced DVDs her client would have allegedly benefitted from during the trial. Montez denied misplacing them, saying instead it was miscommunication between him and another detective.
"We are all human, and we make mistakes," Montez said.
Montez told the jury the police department has conducted several searches for the missing DVDs and said he looked through dozens of other cases by chance the recorded interviews with Hearn and Dunlap were mislabeled.
"It's hard to eat, it's hard to sleep," he said when asked how the missing evidence has impacted him.
Detective Tollefson took the stand following Montez and said he was called to the scene where Farries was arrested in order to inspect the suspect's vehicle. He said he took pictures of the exterior and interior of the SUV.
"I looked inside and had some concerns with the views I had," he said.
Tollefson described the pictures he took and what he saw regarding the SUV. He said one of the windows was broken on the passenger side, several of the mirrors were cracked and the back compartment was filled from the ground to the roof with the suspect's property.
"It gave me concern that if I was in the vehicle, I wouldn't see behind me," Tollefson said, adding though the mirrors were broken, some were still functional.
Farries' attorney continued the heated cross-examination on Detective Wayne Bichel, asking if he looks at the road or at his mirrors while turning as part of the argument of what drivers do naturally.
"Between my experience as a semi driver and current experience with trailers," Bichel said, "I use my mirrors tremendously. I'm looking at lots of things. It's a combination."
The defense then asked if he looks to make sure he isn't dragging someone, but before Bichel could answer, the attorney said she had no further questions.
Prosecutors asked Bichel, as well as Tollefson, about his involvement in a reenactment of the alleged dragging. Bichel said a reenactment was discussed, but said there were multiple issues with doing so, such as mechanical problems with the SUV.
"We utilized the parking lot close to the Police Operations Center," Bichel said of performing a field of vision analysis using the parked SUV. "[Det. Tollefson] was placed in several positions, behind the SUV, slightly to the left, to the right.," adding detectives measured 50 feet of rope to use as the distance between Tollefson and the SUV.
Bichel described detectives using Detective Maresha Hale to play the role of Farries during the analysis as she is similar in height to the suspect.
"I was looking out mirrors to see what I could see," Hale said during her testimony Tuesday. "When [Tollefson] was positioned basically right behind me, just slightly wide of the left side, from my seated position if I scrunched just to the slightest degree to see out the mirror, I could see him clearly."
After the alleged dragging incident, Hale was responsible for collecting surveillance videos from businesses along the route Farries drove.
Farries has plead not guilty to manslaughter and vehicular homicide, among other charges.
The trial is set to continue Wednesday. You can also follow the trial by following the #Farries hashtag on Twitter.
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