By: Gary Robinson, Avid Cyclist
Jury selection began Monday morning for the suspect driver accused of striking and killing Colorado teen cyclist Magnus White near his home in Boulder. Yeva Smilianska was arrested and charged with vehicular homicide months after the deadly crash.
By 2:45 p.m., a jury was seated, and opening statements began after months of postponement in Boulder County Court.
White, 17, was finishing up a ride traveling southbound on Highway 119, commonly called “The Diagonal” while training for an upcoming race at the World Championships in Scotland. He was riding on the paved right shoulder, only 15 minutes from his home in GunBarrel, when he was struck from behind by Smilianska who continued off the roadway and down the grass embankment after striking White.
Smilianska was scheduled to go to trial in December. But, the prosecutors requested a continuance because of the absence of a state trooper. Both prosecuting and defense attorneys agreed that Trooper Sean McCall’s testimony was essential to the trial.
McCall obtained a warrant to drive Smilianska’s car. He wrote in the arrest affidavit that he reached the maximum vehicle-indicated speed of over 50 mph during his drive. He found that the vehicle would pull slightly to the right without any steering input. After an examination by a local mechanic shop, it was determined there was no steering malfunction. Smilianska waived her right to a speedy trial in order to postpone the trial until now.
During opening statements, the defense has changed their position, and are now claiming that Smilianska she drove carelessly and not recklessly. Defense now claims that she fell asleep at the wheel, which she denied during the investigation.
After opening statements, the prosecution called their first witness, Michael White, father of Magnus. In what was a emotional and gut-wrenching testimony, he include that 12 of is son’s friends told him that “Magnus was my best friend” which seems to sum up the authentic personality of the rising star cyclist, and what the community has lost. It was not the first time we have heard Michael state that “He was the best parts of his Mother and I.”
Smilianska’s charges are a class 4 felony in Colorado and carry a non-mandatory prison sentence of two to six years and/or a fine between $2,000 to $500,000.
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