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Today is the trail for Michelle Gelada. She struck and killed Leah Berhanu on Patteson Drive on Feb. 1. She’s charged with negligent homicide. Thread here.
There are about 30 people waiting to watch the trial. The benches in the courthouse hallway are filled. 
The maximum penalty for negligent homicide is a year in prison and a $1,000 fine. It’s a misdemeanor in WV.
Jury selection was scheduled to begin at 8:30 this morning but there still aren’t enough jurors here to begin the selection process.
Still waiting on jury selection. Perri DeChristopher, Monongalia County prosecutor and defense attorney David Grunau agree on a motion not to mention any possible civil lawsuits as it’s not relevant to the trail. Magistrate Sandy Holepit is presiding over the case.
There was some talk about moving to a larger courtroom but it’s not happens. The two attorneys also argued over some language in the jury instructions.
A magistrate court jury needs six members. There were 14 jurors called and 11 have shown up. Grunau declined DeChristopher’s offer to start selection with 11 jurors.
Holepit informed the attorneys three more jurors have been called.
Still haven’t started picking a jury. After selection the trial might move upstairs to a larger room in circuit court. The crowd for Berhanu has grown to about 50.
15 potential jurors are in being ushered into the courtroom now. Selection will begin soon - 2 and 1/2 hours after it was supposed to start
The jury has been selected. It’s made up of five men and one woman. Opening arguments will start after lunch.
Friends and family of Berhanu have filled the courtroom. More are still in the hallway.
DeChristopher said this case is about the illegal decisions Gelada made that resulted in Berhanu’s death. Gelada wasn’t texting, drunk or distracted but decided to ignore laws and speed up to make a yellow light.
The jury will hear testimony from the couple that was driving next to Gelada at the time of accident and others that stopped at the red light. They will also see video from a bus, DeChristopher said.
Gelada wipes tears away as Grunau starts opening statement. He said the accident was tragic and many factors were involved. “Unfortunate reality” that accidents happen Grunau said.
“This was a tragic accident that was a combination of number of factors,” Grunau said.
There were too many factors at play to meet the standard of negligent homicide, Grunau said. Gelada was not driving with reckless disregard, he said. She passed a drug and alcohol screening and wasn’t using her phone he said.
“Conditions were so poor it was next to if not impossible to see a pedestrian,” Grunau told the jury. He said they will see the conditions for themselves in the video.
It was dark and rainy on Feb. 1 when Berhanu was killed about 6:30 p.m.
Grunau said Berhanu was walking in the crosswalk while the traffic signal was still yellow. Said the states own accident reconstructionist will testify to that.
Grunau said he’s not trying to victim blame or diminish what happened but just give a clear and complete picture of what happened that night.
Grunau: At worst, Gelada tried to beat a red light unsuccessfully. That by itself doesn’t meet the standard of negligent homicide.
First witness called to the stand. Officer Beavers with Morgantown Police
Beavers is an accident reconstructionist. He was called to the scene about 7 p.m. He said items from a pedestrian including teeth and shoes were in the roadway as were plastic parts from a car.
Beavers is pointing out the locations where the accident happened using pictures from google maps. It happened in a crosswalk at the intersection of Patteson drive and Morill way.
Gelada was driving a 2000 Ford Explorer. Beavers said it had front end damage. The license plate and frame were found in the road, Beavers said.
The jury is about to watch a video of the accident. Berhanu’s family left the courtroom.
A five minute recess has been called because the audio in the video isn’t working
Video shows Berhanu in the crosswalk and on the hood of Gelada’s car. Beavers said he can identify Berhanu by her white sweater.
Beavers narrated the video for the jury. He said the light was red on Patteson for about two seconds before the crash. Jury also saw the a zoomed in version of the bus tape.
Grunau is asking Beavers about the timing of the weak signal in relation to the light turning red. Berhanu was struck in the left hand lane. She started walking across the street before given the walk signal. Beavers said video shows that’s true.
Street lights were out on Patteson at the time of the accident, Grunau said. He asked Beavers if he knew who was responsible for them or why they were out. He didn’t
Beavers said had to slow the video down to 1/8 speed to see what was going on. He said the department did not retrieve a black box to back up that the acceleration he heard in the bus video was Gelada.
Beavers said the conditions made it hard to see Berhanu in the bus video. Grunau asked if Beavers thought the video was the best evidence in the case and he said yes.
Grunau asked if any evidence submitted so far showed Gelada was aware there was a pedestrian in the crosswalk. Beavers said no.
DeChristopher asked Beavers what a driver’s responsibility is when conditions are poor. He said to drive safely
There is a law that drivers must yield to pedestrians in crosswalk. If Gelada had seen Berhanu and crashed into her anyways it would be murder, not negligent homicide, DeChristopher said.
Damage on Gelada’s vehicle was between Ford logo and passenger headlight. Also on hood. Beavers said it took him 4.6 seconds to walk 20 feet.
Beavers is off the stand and the court is in a five minute break
The prosecution has called a Mountain Line bus driver who was driving the night of the accident.
The bus driver said he saw a red SUV off to his left. He had a green light on Morill Way with two cars in front of him. Didn’t see a pedestrian but saw plastic flying in the air
Eric, the bus driver, said it sounded like the SUV revved up to beat the light.
His bus had six cameras. He said he’s seen the video before and that the sound Beavers said was Gelada accelerating was what he heard. He’s about to watch the video with the jury and point the sound out to them.
He pointed the sound out on video and again said it matched the sound he heard on the day of the crash
Eric said the vehicle didn’t slow down for the light at all. She was going “too fast and should have been slowing down, he said. He didn’t see Berhanu until he was out of the intersection. He parked his bus and went over to Berhanu. Didn’t know her but recognized her from his bus
Eric said he knew there was “no hope” for Berhanu when he saw her. He said he doesn’t like to think about it.
He said there was no braking so he doesn’t think Gelada saw Berhanu. DeChristopher is done. Grunau is up. Said some of his Q’s will be duplicates
Eric said it was “very dark” in the crosswalk.
Gelada “freaked out” and started crying when she got out of her car and saw she hit a person, Eric said. She stayed by her car and did not approach Berhanu.
Grunau asked if despite being focused on the crosswalk and Gelada because of her speed Eric still didn’t see the pedestrian. He said he didn’t and that he had a wider and clearer view than on the video.
Eric said he thinks this is an accident and that he feels bad for both families.
When Eric first saw Gelada she was probably 100-120 feet from the intersection. He said there wasn’t a lot of traffic.
Eric is off the stand. Next up is Mitchell Duckworth. He and his wife were coming from a restaurant to Kroger for ice cream. Was in the right lane. Saw Gelada go through the red light. Said he was focused on stopping at red light.
Duckworth said he saw what looked like legs fly up on the air. His wife said there’s supposed to be someone in the crosswalk. He stopped and went to Berhanu
Duckworth said he’s a combat lifesaver in the army. Berhanu didn’t have a pulse on her neck. Tried her arm. Another guy came over and started CPR and Duckworth went over to Gelada to make sure she was ok.
Berhanu was “pretty well broken” Duckworth said.
Duckworth said he was about 300 feet from light when it went red and Gelada was about a car length ahead of him. He said he was traveling about 35 mph. Agreed with Grunau that it was a safe speed
