Attorneys presented opening arguments Tuesday in the trial of a man accused of fatally hitting a motorcyclist with his car in June 2022.
Jesus Petronilo Atencio, 67, faces one count of criminally negligent homicide.
Deputy District Attorney Andrew Baldock told the jury that at approximately 7:42 a.m. on June, 28, 2022, 50-year-old Adam Newbold was driving a motorcycle westbound on Geist Road. Drivers approached a green light at the intersection when a white Toyota Corolla, driven by Atencio, “crashed essentially head on” into the motorcyclist, causing Newbold to become airborne.
Newbold later died at Fairbanks Memorial Hospital.
Baldock said that Atencio told Alaska State Troopers that he did not know what happened.
“I don’t know what really happened. It would be nice to know what other people saw,” Baldock quoted Atencio as saying.
Baldock told the jury that multiple eye witnesses, a paramedic, a trooper and a medical examiner will take the stand over the course of the trial.
Bill Satterberg, Atencio’s defense attorney, told jurors that their job is to decide whether the collision was criminal or an accident.
“Was he [Atencio] criminal when this happened? We’re not going to dispute the fact he made a mistake, a terrible mistake.”
Satterberg said that Atencio was on his way to work at the University of Alaska Fairbanks when he made a left turn onto Thompson Drive. According to Satterberg, Atencio did not see the motorcyclist and thought it was safe to drive through the intersection.
“That’s something he’ll have to live with for the rest of his life,” Satterberg told the jury. “Like Mr. Baldock stated, he’s very, very remorseful, extremely remorseful over what happened.”
David Startz testified that he saw a motorcycle while was driving westbound on Geist Road to Justa Store on June 28, 2022. He said that he was driving in the right lane and the motorcyclist was two to three car lengths ahead of him in the left lane.
Startz saw a white car “inching out into the intersection” preparing to turn and collide with the motorcyclist, he testified. Startz said that the motorcyclist attempted to swerve but “there wasn’t much time.”
Christine Weik testified that she first saw the motorcyclist on the on-ramp to the Johansen Expressway from Peger Road. She was about one car length behind the motorcycle when she saw “a wreck” between the white car and the motorcycle in the intersection.
Weik said that she saw the motorcyclist fly through the air and land on the ground. Weik talked with Atencio on the scene and testified that he appeared to be worried about the motorcyclist.
Harold Osborne told the jury that he was driving a white maintenance van to Effie Kokrine Charter School in his role as a painter for the Fairbanks North Star Borough when he saw the collision. Osborne said that his van may have obstructed the view of vehicles behind him on Geist Road.
Osborne testified that the white car stopped before turning left, and the motorcycle hit the front right side of the white car. Osborne said that the motorcyclist did a “pretty violent summersault” in the air.
The witnesses testified that the motorcyclist appeared to be driving in a safe manner, and was not wearing a helmet at the time of the collision.
William Wood was a first responder at the University of Alaska Fairbanks Fire Department who responded to the collision. Wood testified that Newbold was laying on the ground and unresponsive when he arrived on the scene at 7:45 a.m. He said that Newbold’s left eye was dilated and his hands were flexed at his side, possibly indicating a head injury. Newbold was breathing rapidly and irregularly, Wood said.
Medical Examiner Dr. Kenneth Gallagher testified that cause of death was multiple blunt force injuries to the head and torso, and the manner of death was an accident.
“If he had a helmet on his injuries may have been less severe,” Gallagher said, adding that he did not know if wearing a helmet would have prevented Newbold’s death.
Gallagher told the jury that a toxicology report showed Delta-9 THC, the active compound of marijuana, in Newbold’s system. Gallagher testified that that amount of Delta-9 THC is consistent with smoking one joint approximately three hours beforehand.
The trial will continue Wednesday morning at the Rabinowitz Courthouse in Fairbanks.
