The fatal highway crash which killed three people, including two members of Tongan royalty, began when a Redwood City teen’s Ford Mustang bumped the front wheel of the victim’s Ford Explorer, an accident reconstruction specialist testified yesterday.
“We’re dealing with what’s called a sideswipe collision,” explained John G. Daily, a prosecution expert who teaches traffic crash investigation.
Using a round clock to represent the Explorer’s tire, Daily told jurors the impact from Edith Delgado’s Mustang pushed the wheel to the right, forcing the Explorer to veer toward the edge of Highway 101 and beginning the multiple tumbles that ended with its three occupants dead.
Delgado, 19, watched Daily’s testimony without the tears that have marked other trial days.
Delgado is charged with three counts of gross vehicular manslaughter and faces eight years in prison. Defense attorney Randy Moore has previously conceded his client started the accident but denied she showed gross negligence. At most, he believes, Delgado should face just vehicular manslaughter.
Moore does not plan to argue the Explorer was prone to rollovers although the Tongan royal family filed a lawsuit Monday alleging the vehicle rather than Delgado is at fault.
The civil suit or any evidence it uncovers cannot be used in the criminal trial. Conversely, the criminal verdict can be used in the civil suit — meaning Delgado’s acquittal is in the Tongan family’s best interest.
Prosecutors, however, want jurors to believe Delgado is responsible for the crash regardless of the Explorer’s safety record.
Prosecutor Aaron Fitzgerald called Daily after days of eyewitness testimony to hammer home the estimated speed of both vehicles and the exact nature of the July 5 crash that killed Prince Tu’ipelehake, 55, his wife princess Kaimana, 45, and the couple’s driver, Vinisia Hefa, 36.
Delgado and her 18-year-old passenger were unharmed.
Daily estimated the Explorer’s speed at about 65 mph when struck but could only say Delgado was traveling faster based on the contact he saw in photographs.
The Explorer’s tire left black swirl marks along the side of the white Mustang and the bumper peeled back the door edge, Daily said.
The Explorer flipped, leaving gouge marks in the pavement. A California Highway Patrol officer earlier testified about finding items strewn all over the scene, including a purse, passport and rearview mirror.
Delgado remains in custody on no-bail status. The prosecution continues its case today.
Michelle Durand can be reached by e-mail: michelle@smdailyjournal.com or by phone: (650) 344-5200 ext. 102.
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