It took all day, but a jury was finally seated in Litwin case; emotional testimony gets underway.
It took all day for a jury of three women and nine men to be seated in the case against Alyssa Litwin, charged in an accident that claimed the lives of two sisters, five-year-old Codie and nine-month-old Charli Sackett, in Morgan Mill on Dec. 3, 2018.
The accident seriously injured the children’s mother, Carrie Sackett.
Judge Jason Cashon is presiding over the proceedings in the 266th Judicial District Court, with testimony expected to last most of the week.
Calling Litwin’s actions “reckless and criminally negligent” in opening statements, District Attorney Alan Nash recalled heart wrenching details about the accident.
He told jurors that Litwin plowed into the back of Carrie Sackett’s vehicle because she was on her phone rather than paying attention to the road.
“We expect the evidence to show that this defendant wasn’t looking out the window…on one of the most dangerous, busiest highways in the state of Texas,” Nash said.
Nash told jurors that immediately following the accident, Litwin told a DPS trooper that she was not on the cell phone when the accident occurred, but later admitted to deleting a string of text messages on the side of the road “as she was watching the crash scene unfold.”
Litwin, wearing a mask and sitting next to her attorneys Shay Isham and Ryan Taylor in the courtroom, appeared at times to wipe away tears and bow her head.
Isham described the case to jurors as one of the most “horrifically tragic accidents” he has ever been a part of.
“Everyone’s lives have been changed forever,” Isham told the jury. “But you have to ask yourself, ‘Was this a car accident or manslaughter?’”
Litwin is charged with two counts of manslaughter, four counts of endangering a child, aggravated assault and tampering with evidence. She has pleaded not guilty.
Testimony will resume at 9 a.m. Tuesday.
コメント