Schauf jury asks for more time

After more than 12 hours of deliberation Tuesday, jurors in the Steffanie Ann Schauf trial asked District Court Judge Stewart E. Stadler for more time to reach a verdict.

The jury is expected to reconvene at 8:45 a.m. today for further deliberation.

Schauf, 27, is charged with vehicular homicide while under the influence of alcohol, negligent vehicular assault, and criminal endangerment in connection with the death of Brett Adams, 24.

She pleaded not guilty to those charges in May 2007.

The jury has been instructed to consider lesser charges, including negligent homicide and DUI.

According to testimony, Schauf was driving southbound on U.S. 93 in her blue Mazda Miata at about 1:30 a.m. on July 1, 2006. As she neared the Happy Valley area, her car ran into the back of a pickup truck driven by Christopher Gray, 28.

The impact sent the truck rolling down an embankment, ejecting Adams. Adams was taken to Kalispell Regional Medical Center, where he later died from severe brain injuries.

Gray was taken in serious condition to Kalispell Regional Medical Center with broken bones and a punctured lung. A second passenger, Savannah Hill, sat between Adams and Gray in the truck and was treated for minor injuries and released.

Schauf°¯s Miata also went into the ditch, where it caught fire. Two passing motorists pulled her from the vehicle.

The jury of six men and six women has heard testimony from eyewitnesses, accident reconstruction experts, medical experts, and Schauf herself over the course of the six-day proceedings.

Prosecutors alleged Schauf was driving under the influence of alcohol and negligent in causing the accident.

Authorities with an investigative subpoena drew blood from Schauf after she refused to give a breathalyzer test at the scene, eventually discovering that her blood-alcohol level was .34 °ª more than four times the legal limit of .08.

Prosecutors also told the jury Schauf was driving recklessly, and witnesses testified they saw her swerving between the fog and center lines. Emergency personnel with years of experience, some of whom drew the blood sample, told the jury they believed Schauf was drunk that night.

Witness Paul Bach, a neuropsychologist from Missoula, testified there was no evidence that Schauf suffered a head injury in the accident, and that alcohol caused her subsequent behavior.

Captured by Montana Highway Patrol trooper Martin Schrock°¯s onboard camera, Schauf was unsteady on her feet, hysterical, and uncooperative. She yelled profanities at Schrock and tried to kick out the doors of the trooper°¯s patrol car.

Witness Paul Blotter, a mechanical engineering professor from Utah State University and an accident reconstruction expert, testified that Schauf°¯s car was going 80 to 87 mph and Gray°¯s pickup was going 65 to 68 mph when the collision occurred. There was no indication of either driver braking prior to the collision, he said.

Scuff marks at the scene were not aligned to show braking, but instead their cockeyed alignment supported the conclusion that the Mazda°¯s left front rammed the right rear of the pickup, Blotter testified.

But defense attorney George Best told the jury that Schauf was neither drunk nor negligent.

Witnesses testified Schauf only drank two glasses of wine and a couple sips from a third after getting off work at the Pollo Grill, where she was a waitress. During his closing argument, Best displayed the amount of alcohol the 138 pound Schauf would have had to have consumed between the time she left work at 12:30 p.m. and the 1:30 p.m. crash - more than a dozen drinks.

Best called witnesses to testify that the pharmacy school graduate°¯s physically and verbally combative actions after the crash were a result of a head injury, not alcohol.

Clinical neuropsychologist David E. Nilsson testified that totally uncharacteristic behavior was the result of brain trauma, possibly post-traumatic amnesia or an adult version of shaken baby syndrome.

And the same skid marks prosecution experts said proved Gray°¯s pickup truck didn°¯t brake defense experts said proved he did. Larry Tompkins, a forensic engineer from Vancouver, Wash., who also specializes in reconstructing accidents, gave evidence suggesting that the pickup might have braked for a Jeep that had just passed it and moved back into the rightmost lane with the Dodge and Mazda.

The occupants of that Jeep, witnesses who later admitted to drinking that night, were harassing the occupants of the pickup truck and vice versa with hand gestures and such, Best said. The three occupants off the pickup truck had also been drinking.

If convicted on all charges filed by the prosecution, Schauf could face up to 50 years in prison and a $110,000 fine.

Reporter Nicholas Ledden can be reached at 758-4441 or by e-mail at nledden@dailyinterlake.com