By David Holden
Huntsville Times (Alabama)
Copyright 2007 The Huntsville Times
HUNTSVILLE, Ala. — Witnesses of the two-vehicle crash that killed Dianna Bowden in October 2005 admitted they were unable to tell whether she or the other driver ran a red light.
In his opening statement Tuesday, Assistant District Attorney Robert Becher said Tennessee ambulance driver Charles Christopher Eakes was driving at an excessive speed and ran a red light when he collided with Bowden at U.S. 231/431 and West Limestone Road.
But Eakes’ lawyer, Robert Presto, said in his opening that Bowden ran the red light and into the path of the oncoming ambulance.
Bowden, 18, was killed in the Oct. 13, 2005 wreck about seven miles north of Huntsville in Hazel Green.
Troopers estimated Eakes was driving 81 mph in a 60 mph speed zone. But Presto said Eakes had slowed to around 50 mph to go through the intersection, in accordance with his training to drive emergency services vehicles.
Presto argued the troopers’ calculations of speed is not correct. Troopers estimated it took Eakes 14 minutes to drive the 15.7 miles from Fayetteville to the intersection. The troopers cut off 52 seconds from Eakes’ travel time, which would add up to almost 15 minutes, he said.
“In this case, seconds count,” he said.
When the wreck occurred, the ambulance was transporting a patient, Earnest Cook, to Huntsville Hospital from Fayetteville on a non-emergency run.
The ambulance was southbound on U.S. 231/431 when it collided with Bowden’s Dodge Neon at the intersection. Bowden was turning left from West Limestone Road to head north on 231/431 when the ambulance slammed into the driver’s side of her car.
Jolee Yarbrough was among the crowd of people who gathered at the Chevron station or the car wash across the street, south of the intersection of U.S. 231/431 and West Limestone and Joe Quick Roads. It was a place where young people hang out and socialize.
Bowden, after leaving her job, stopped for a few minutes at the car wash to speak to friends or make plans for later. When she pulled onto West Limestone Road and stopped at the intersection with U.S. 231/431, she turned north heading to meet her boyfriend at her apartment.
Yarbrough said she watched Bowden pull out. She also saw the ambulance approaching fast. She glanced at her cell phone and, before she could look up, the crash occurred.
But from where she was standing, south of the intersection, Yarbrough admitted she could not see the traffic lights for the southbound lane on the main highway or the turn signal from West Limestone Road.
Other witnesses said they saw the crash and heard the crash, but they could not see the traffic signals.
The testimony was expected to continue today with state troopers on the stand.