RICHMOND, Va. -- The trial of a Richmond Police Department officer charged in connection with a crash that left two people dead began Monday, just over a year after the crash itself.
Ofc. Richard Johnson faces two counts of involuntary manslaughter and one of reckless driving.
Prior to the start of Monday's trial, prosecutors "nolle prossed" (a legal term meaning the charges have been set aside) a misdemeanor failure to yield.
Johnson was responding to a burglary call on the night of April 7, 2022, when the police SUV he was driving crashed into a 1999 Buick with Jeremiah Ruffin, 18, and Tracey Williams, 19, at the intersection of Castlewood and Bells Roads (police and prosecutors said in court they could not determine which one was driving).
Neither victim was wearing a seatbelt and both were ejected from the vehicle.
Prosecution Opening Statement
After a jury selection process that took about three hours, prosecutors gave their opening statement to the jury of eight men and six women (two of the jurors are alternates and will be released from their roles prior to deliberation).
Prosecutors, including Richmond Commonwealth's Attorney Colette McEachin, alleged that Johnson made not one, but a series of mistakes, that caused the deaths of two innocent victims and that the preventable crash was the result of extreme negligence to show a disregard for human life.
They said when a Code One (the highest priority) call came in, Johnson was involved in an investigation at a nearby auto parts store with several other officers, including one he was training, Ofc. Dquan Walker, who had recently graduated from the police academy.
Prosecutors said other units had already been dispatched to the burglary and Johnson (and the trainee) followed in his SUV, but he drove like he was the responding unit. They said Johnson disobeyed department policy to not go more than 15 miles per hour (MPH) over the posted speed limit. They said his vehicle was going over 59 MPH at the time of the crash on a 35 MPH road.
Prosecutors said as Johnson drove along Bells Road, towards Castlewood, he had a red light and said he did not follow state law regarding red light rules.
They said he was supposed to slow down and ensure the intersection was clear, but alleged he drove through without slowing down or stopping or clearing the intersection.
Prosecutors also told jurors that they would be shown lots of video of the crash including surveillance video and body-worn cameras from several officers.
Defense Opening Statement
Johnson's defense counsel, Edward Nickel and Peter Baruch, told jurors that there was no doubt that a tragedy happened, but added that a tragic accident by itself does not make it a crime.
They said Johnson was not acting extremely negligent, was responding to an emergency as ordered, and did the opposite of showing a disregard for human life by rendering first aid to the victims after the crash.
The defense attorney said that as Johnson turned onto Bells Rd. he realized he had the red light, but was following the requirements needed to go through it -- including active lights and sirens and sounding the SUV's air horn.
He added Johnson checked the intersection for oncoming traffic, but his view was obstructed, and did not see the Buick until they were in the intersection.
He said there is a law that requires other drivers to yield to emergency vehicles. He said the Buick was also speeding at the time and did not slow down and neither person in the car had a driver's license that was valid at the time of the crash.
Witness One -- Crash Reconstruction Sergeant
Following the opening statements, the prosecution called four witnesses to the stand.
The first witness was Sgt. Beverly Eikerenkoetter, an RPD traffic sergeant who investigated the crash.
Eikerenkoetter said the road would have been well-lit at night time when the crash happened and the road conditions were dry. He added there were no obvious visual obstructions that would have impeded a driver's view approaching the intersection.
The courtroom was then played a surveillance video that had no sound showing the crash. In it, you could see one police unit driving through the intersection with its lights flashing, followed 10-12 seconds later by the unit driven by Johnson when it crashed into the Buick with Ruffin and Williams.
Eikerenkoetter said there were no brake or skid marks from either vehicle, but further investigation determined that Buick attempted to stop about a second before the collision. He added it was determined that the Buick was 118 feet into the intersection at the time of the crash, while the police cruiser was 39 feet into the intersection.
He added the traffic lights at the intersection were working properly and confirmed Johnson had the red light.
Eikerenkoetter was also shown a report from the Richmond Department of Emergency Communications (DEC) about the dispatch for the burglary call and he said the call sign attached to Johnson was not among the units that were dispatched to respond to it.
On cross-examination, the defense went through several frames of the security camera looking at the color of the traffic light controlling Castlewood, which the Buick was traveling on, and Eikerenkoetter confirmed that the light had turned yellow before it had entered the intersection. On redirect, Eikerenkoetter told prosecutors that traffic laws dictate if you are committed to an intersection when the light turns yellow to continue driving.
The defense also questioned Eikerenkoetter's preliminary report that said the Buick hit Johnson but switched that around in the final report. Upon redirect, Eikerenkoetter said Johnson told him on the scene that he was not sure which car was responsible, but upon reviewing surveillance video they determined his car struck the Buick.
On cross-examination and redirect, Eikerenkoetter also went over the Virginia code governing what rights and requirements emergency vehicles have to disobey regular traffic laws when responding to emergencies and the requirements of other vehicles to yield to them.
The defense also submitted a video Eikerenkoetter's team recreated showing the path that Johnson took before the crash, while the prosecution pointed out it was filmed during broad daylight and while driving the speed limit.
Witness Two - Training Officer
The second witness was Ofc. Dquan Walker, who had only graduated the prior month and was training in the field with Johnson.
Walker recounted what he recalled on the night of the crash, but said he did not know if they were the primary unit responding to the burglary call and was just following Johnson.
Walker said he recalled seeing that they had the green light as they approach the intersection of Bells and Castlewood, but when shown his own body-worn camera (BWC) video Walker said he saw that the light was red.
He said he did not remember how many times Johnson blew the vehicle's air horn.
Walker added he did not see the Buick until he and Johnson had entered the intersection at which point he remembered trying to warn Johnson by pointing to his left and saying "left."
He said after the crash he tried to render aid to Ruffin.
Witness Three - RPD Sergeant
The third witness was RPD Sgt. John Rotondi who responded to the crash shortly after it happened. He described the scene as "chaotic" because of the debris everywhere and the bodies on the ground.
Prosecutors played his BWC video which showed him assessing the scene and telling Ofc. Walker to sit down, which he said he did because Walker was not with it. He then told Ofc. Johnson to go to his (Rotondi's) vehicle and get his medical bag from the back.
He said he then tried to render aid to Williams. The defense pointed out that in the video you can see Johnson providing aid to her as well, despite cuts to his face, and had to be told to stand down.
Witness Four - RPD Sergeant
The fourth and final witness of the day was RPD Sgt. Dale Shamburg, who was the supervisor on duty for the Second Precinct that night.
Shamburg was at the auto store with Johnson and Walker when the burglary call came in.
His BWC was also played in court and you could hear an interaction between him and Johnson where Johnson said he was driving with his lights and sirens on and slowed down to clear the intersection and did not see any cars. Johnson added Walker spotted the other car as they entered the intersection.
On cross-examination, Shamburg confirmed he was the authority to dispatch people to calls if he felt they were needed and were not sent by dispatch (recall the DEC report that said Johnson's unit was not among those dispatched to the burglary call).
Shamburg said that he told Johnson and Walker to go to the call and said the reason he sent them was that Walker was a trainee and Shamburg, an FTO himself, knew that all trainees had to have responded to a Code One call to complete their training.
On redirect, Shamburg confirmed to prosecutors that Johnson had not been dispatched by the DEC as either the primary or backing unit.
Day Two
The trial will resume at 9 a.m. on Tuesday.
It is supposed to be the last day of the two-day trial.
Johnson is expected to take to the stand in his own defense
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