Updates to the story, not that they are good news...:
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Mistrial in deadly Phoenix truck-crash case involving motorcyclistsby Michael Kiefer - Aug. 19, 2011 12:00 AM
The Arizona Republic
The question for jurors was whether Michael Jakscht was impaired by methamphetamine when he plowed his dump truck into a line of motorcyclists, killing four and injuring five.
If they determined he was impaired, then Jakscht would be guilty of four counts of manslaughter, five counts of aggravated assault and two counts of endangerment.
If not, he would have to be found not guilty.
Because all of the deaths and injuries took place in the same instant, he was either guilty on all counts or not guilty of any.
But the jury could not reach a unanimous decision, and on Thursday, after four days of deliberations in Maricopa County Superior Court, it hung 9-3 in favor of acquittal. Judge Joseph Welty was forced to declare a mistrial.
A hearing has been set for Aug. 29 to determine if and when to reschedule a trial.
Relatives of the victims, who have attended nearly every day of the trial, expressed disbelief at the hung jury. Some wept in the courthouse hallways.
On March 25, 2010, Jakscht, now 48, was midway through his day driving a roll-off truck when, according to his testimony, he glanced to one side. When he looked back to the road, he realized he was bearing down on 10 motorcyclists stopped at a red light at 27th Drive and Carefree Highway in north Phoenix.
Jakscht slammed on the brakes and the 12-ton truck skidded to the left, over the top of the bikes and the riders. Several motorcyclists were trapped beneath the truck when their gas tanks burst into flames.
Clyde Nachand, 67; Stephen Punch, 52; and Daniel Butler, 35, died at the scene. Dayle Veronica Downs-Totonchi, 47, died a day later. Several other riders suffered serious disabling injuries.
Phoenix police said Jakscht failed a roadside sobriety test and his blood tested positive for meth.
On the witness stand, Jakscht said he had not done well on the test because he had been burned while trying to rescue the people trapped beneath the truck and because dry chemicals from a fire extinguisher had sprayed into his eyes and throat.
The meth, he said, could only have come from some diet pills that he had been taking for weeks and had last taken the day before.
"He was just out of it," prosecutor Tom McDermott said during his closing argument last Friday. The accident, he said, was caused by a "lapse of consciousness or his inability to maintain his attention to the task of driving."
But defense attorney Robyn Varcoe said Jakscht had already made 10 runs and had driven about 150 miles that day, operating the truck's complicated machinery, so it was unlikely that he was suddenly unable to drive.
Furthermore, she said, the prosecution's expert witness had said three of the truck's six brakes were out of adjustment.
Read more:
http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/2011/08/18/20110818phoenix-mistrial-declared-in-motorcycle-deaths.html===========================================
County attorney will retry driver in motorcycle deathsby Michelle Ye Hee Lee - Aug. 27, 2011 12:00 AM
The Arizona Republic
Maricopa County Attorney Bill Montgomery will retry Michael Jakscht, who is accused of being impaired while driving a truck that killed four motorcyclists and seriously injured five others in a north Phoenix accident.
Jakscht, 48, was previously charged with five counts of aggravated assault, four counts of manslaughter and two counts of endangerment.
On March 25, 2010, he crashed his dump truck into the motorcyclists at a traffic light. Prosecutors argued Jakscht was impaired at the time of the accident, having tested positive for methamphetamine. He attributed the test results to diet pills he'd taken.
Jurors were told he would have to be found guilty on all counts, or not guilty of any, because the injuries and deaths happened in the same instant. The jury hung 9-3 in favor of acquittal, forcing Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Joseph Welty to declare a mistrial.
Montgomery met with prosecutors this week to review the case. A new trial date has not yet been set. A $1 million bond has been set for Jakscht.
Read more:
http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/2011/08/26/20110826phoenix-motorcylcle-deaths-trucker-retrial-sought.html
