COLORADO SPRINGS, COLO. -- After nine days of witness testimony from people called to the stand by the prosecuting attorneys, the lawyers for the woman accused of dragging a tow truck driver to his death last February finally get their chance.
The defense calling their first witnesses to the stand to prove that Detra Farries didn't know she was dragging tow truck driver Allen Rose, that Rose didn't follow proper tow procedures, and that while his death was tragic, it wasn't criminal.
Farries is accused of driving away in an SUV while Rose was preparing to tow it away. Rose's feet became entangled in the cable, and he was dragged behind the SUV for more than a mile to his death.
Farries has pleaded not guilty to manslaughter and vehicular homicide, among other charges.
Thursday morning the people rested its case, allowing Farries to begin her defense. After a judge denied Farries' attorneys a request for acquittal, the defense began by calling two Colorado Springs Police detectives to the stand.
The first was Michael Johns, a detective with Colorado Springs Police's Major Accident Unit.
Johns testified he responded to Hill Park Apartments that day and interviewed Reggie Lawson, the assistant apartment manager. Johns said Lawson told him that no notification or warning tag was placed on the SUV before Rose arrived, but added it wasn't a requirement because it was on private property.
Johns said Lawson told him the vehicle had been there for three days and that he called J & J Towing, who is contracted to that area. Johns said Lawson was the only one he interviewed that day, and he was dismissed.
The defense's second witness, CSPD Detective Daniel Smoker, was on the stand for quite some time. Both the defense and the prosecution grilled him for several hours on various topics from typical accidents, to normal tow procedures, to whether or not the driver would have ever been able to see Rose.
Smoker, who is also part of the Major Accident Unit, testified that the typical accident he responds to usually involves some type of collision, a driver, and someone who has been killed or severely injured. When asked by the defense if the typical accident involves two objects colliding, Smoker replied yes.
Then he added "When you think you've seen it all, you find something that you haven't seen," he said.
Smoker also testified that when he arrived at the scene at Hill Park Apartments Rose's truck was still running and power was turned on to his winch. He told the jury the auxiliary lights were not on and that the tow bed was level and retracted, as it would be when driving down the road.
The prosecution asked if Rose could have been using another method to tow the vehicle and Smoker said there is no requirement in the law as to how tow truck drivers must tow a vehicle and they can do it however they want.
Smoker was also questioned about tire tracks in a sand box at the apartment complex. He testified that based on the tracks that were left the SUV was not traveling at a high rate of speed at that time. He said there was no indication that the vehicle was sliding or losing traction.
Smoker testified that the only way to know for sure would be to do a reconstruction of the day's events. He said he suggested that at a meeting with 10-15 other people.
"I was told that it was probably a good idea that we do these things, and we didn't," Smoker said.
Smoker was then questioned about the blood path left by Rose's body. He testified that while the blood path was not perfectly straight, it did not veer wildly from left to right, meaning the driver was traveling relatively straight.
He said when the driver made turns the body would naturally swing out to the opposite side and said the evidence supported that this happened.
Smoker later was questioned about whether the driver would have been able to see Rose.
He said there would be an opportunity to see him when she was turning, and she would have been able to see him in the rearview mirror, if she had a functioning mirror.
"It's actually mandatory that you have a rearview mirror because of safety," Smoker said.
Others have previously testified that the SUV had a cracked rearview mirror and that the vehicle was packed with personal belongings.
Smoker said the driver would have had an opportunity to see Rose when they turned if they had been looking at their side-view mirrors. He later told the jury that if he was being chased he wouldn't be looking at his mirrors on the turns, he would be focused on the road in front of him. He said he would check them on a straight part of the road.
When asked if he thought it would be possible to throw a tow hook and catch the axel, Smoker said he didn't know the answer to that question, adding that why Rose was towing the SUV the way he was, and how he got caught "defies explanation."
Farries' daughter, Shannon Mills, was the final witness to take the stand Thursday.
The 18-year-old testified that she and her family were moving from Denver to Houston Texas last February and had stopped in Colorado Springs to visit Farries' cousin, Bruce Knight.
She said that on the way down her car, a green cavalier, began to overheat and it needed to be fixed before they could continue.
She said her mom's suburban drove "OK" and was packed with all of their personal belongings.
Mills told the jury she was upstairs in the apartment when her mom went down to the car to get her purse and never came back.
She said she, Knight, and Knight's wife went looking for her. She said she tried calling her mom several times and she didn't answer.
She testified that she didn't hear anything from her mom or see her until around 11:00 p.m. that night.
She said when her mom came back she was upset.
"Her feelings were hurt. She was sad. She was crying," Mills said.
Farries was also advised of her right to testify in the trial Thursday. If she does choose to take the stand the prosecution would be able to cross examine her. She told the court she understands her rights and will wait until more witnesses are called to make her decision.
The trial is set to continue Wednesday. You can also follow the trial by following the #Farries hashtag on Twitter.
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