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and pleaded not guilty when he was arraigned. The Judge set a date
for Mark's trial and his defense team has been working to collect
information about the technology used by the Highway Patrol to
reconstruct the crash.
District Attorney O'Malley offered Mark a plea bargain, but Mark
chose to take his chances at trial. Mark's attorney, Mr. Chen Long,
advised Mark that accepting the plea offer was completely up to Mark,
although Mr. Long advised against accepting it because the defense
planned to highlight mistakes made by law enforcement during the
investigation that could create reasonable doubt in the minds of the
jurors.
The trial begins and during the voir dire of potential jurors, several
individuals are excused because they have previous knowledge of
Mark's case from the media. Two individuals stated that they could not
be impartial because they had loved ones killed in alcohol related
crashes as well. Eventually, two men and ten women were seated in
Mark's trial.
District Attorney O'Malley presented the State's case clearly and
concisely depicting a night on the town full of heavy drinking, which
ultimately resulted in Mark's actions causing the death of one
individual and injuring four others. Highway Patrolman Green
explained to the jury that he immediately suspected alcohol when he
arrived on scene because Mark appeared to be intoxicated when they
spoke. Following the Judge ruling that it was admissible and not
prejudicial, Sergeant Rodney Monroe, from the Highway Patrol
Reconstruction Team presented their reconstruction complete with a
high-tech computer animated reenactment of the crash. During the
cross examination, Defense Attorney Long challenged the
reconstruction because the Defense Crash Reconstruction Expert had
discovered errors in the mathematical calculations for vehicle speed.
The jury appeared to have liked the reconstruction very much
regardless of the errors highlighted by the defense.
Mark was convicted of DWI, four counts of felony assault, and one
count of involuntary manslaughter; however, he was acquitted of
reckless driving and speeding. The Jury said they could not convict