Jury acquits man in Rhoades' death Considered DUI, but not at fault

STROUDSBURG - After deliberating for nearly 5 1/2 hours and questioning the judge twice Monday, a Monroe County jury found Thomas P. Senavitis, 46, of Kunkletown, not guilty of vehicular homicide in the October 2008 death of state Sen. James J. Rhoades.

Twenty-nine witnesses were called during the four-day trial, which began Wednesday. The jury entered deliberations about noon Monday and read its verdict at 5:25 p.m.

Senavitis was found not guilty of one count of homicide by

vehicle/DUI, one count of homicide by vehicle and two counts of aggravated assault by vehicle/DUI. Senavitis was found guilty of one count of DUI/unsafe driving, DUI/blood alcohol content of 0.16 percent or greater and four counts of recklessly endangering another person. Remaining are several summary charges for traffic offenses, which can be decided by a judge without a jury.

The jury questioned Monroe County President Judge Ronald Vican, who presided over the trial, twice during its deliberations. At 3 p.m., the jury asked Vican to review the definitions of homicide by vehicle and homicide by vehicle/DUI. At 5 p.m., the jury again asked about the nature of the homicide by vehicle charges facing the defendant.

"If direct cause is due to both parties, can one party be guilty of homicide by vehicle?" the jury foreman asked about 5 p.m.

Vican said a person's conduct must be a "substantive factor" to qualify as a direct cause. Vican said there can be more than one direct cause for an event, and a defendant can still be criminally liable even if there are other direct causes.

However, Vican said, the defendant's actions cannot be a direct cause if the victim played an "independent, overriding and important role" in causing the accident, Vican said.

Much of the testimony came down to two key issues: establishing whether the collision occurred in Senavitis' or Rhoades' lane, and determining whether Senavitis was driving drunk.

According to police, the crash occurred at 6:35 p.m. Oct. 17, 2008, when Senavitis was driving a green 1994 Chevrolet Silverado south on Route 209 near Brodheadsville. Rhoades was driving a black 2006 Cadillac north behind Yamila P. Yafar, 23, of East Stroudsburg, who was driving a green 1996 Ford Windstar and pulled off the road shortly before the accident.

Police said a drunk Senavitis swerved into Rhoades' lane, while the defense said Rhoades swerved into Senavitis' lane while trying to avoid the minivan. The senator was fatally injured in the wreck and died at Lehigh Valley Hospital, Allentown, the following day.

Yafar testified Wednesday she pulled over because her child was crying and her cell phone starting ringing, and she had just started to put the minivan into park when the crash occurred.

Both sides called crash reconstructionists - who agreed that Rhoades' vehicle was pushed backward, spun counterclockwise and struck Yafar's van in the accident - but differed on where the collision occurred.

According to police, a blood-alcohol test on Senavitis showed a blood-alcohol content of 0.355 percent, more than four times the legal limit.

On Thursday, the defense called two of Senavitis' co-workers at the Stroudsburg Midas where he is a mechanic. A fellow mechanic said he passed Senavitis on the road on his way home from work Oct. 17, and Senavitis was driving fine. The store owner said Senavitis stopped by about an hour before the crash to pick up his paycheck and did not smell like alcohol or slur his speech during a 20-minute conversation.

Two prosecution witnesses, however, said Senavitis "smelled like a brewery" at the scene of the accident, and a forensic pathologist who converted his medical blood-alcohol level to the legal blood-alcohol limit of 0.355 said it was a "world-class level" of alcohol.

Monday testimony

One final witness testified Monday morning.

Rebecca Patrick, a forensic scientist at the Pennsylvania State Police Bethlehem Regional Crime Lab, was asked about the police report that stated Senavitis' blood was "greater than .3" instead of stating a precise figure. Patrick said the machine is calibrated to pay attention to the sentencing guidelines of 0.02, 0.08, and 0.16.

Closing arguments

Monroe County Chief Public Defender Wieslaw T. Niemoczynski presented the defense's closing argument Monday and said the prosecution's version of events in which a drunk driver crossed into the senator's lane was colored by people's preconceptions.

To illustrate his point, Niemoczynski read the jury a short children's story, "Grandpa Dropped His Glasses," in which a man's glasses fall into purple dye and he begins to see everything with a purple tint.

"We tend to put on our own sets of glasses," Niemoczynski said. "They very much define the way we see things."

Niemoczynski pointed to the testimony of Al Guevara, who was parked at a restaurant near the scene of an accident waiting for a friend. Guevara said he saw a green minivan pull off to the side of the road, turn on its interior lights and stay on the shoulder for about 10 to 20 seconds before starting to pull back onto the road.

Guevara, who said his friend also drives a black Cadillac, said he saw a similar vehicle pass, which may have swerved to avoid the minivan.

Niemoczynski asked the jury to consider whether it would be unusual for someone to pull around a vehicle pulling onto the roadway, especially a politician up for re-election "shaking hands, eating rubber chicken, going to Rotaries ... (who) might be a little bit tired."

"Even a state senator can make a mistake," Niemoczynski said.

Guevara did not witness the actual collision.

Monroe County Assistant District Attorney Colleen Mancuso pointed to the testimony of Eric Golab, a Jonas man who was driving on Route 209 two cars behind Rhoades. Golab said Rhoades may have "slightly" crossed the line, but Senavitis' truck came "three-quarters" of the way into Rhoades' lane. Golab also said he smelled alcohol on Senavitis when he stopped to assist.

In their closing arguments, both sides said the opposing crash reconstructionist had ignored key pieces of evidence.

Each side called a crash reconstructionist as a witness - state police Cpl. Doug Shook testified Wednesday for the prosecution, and Kevin Theriault, of Virginia-based Crash and Safety consultants, testified Friday for the defense.

Mancuso said Theriault ignored many pieces of evidence, including the location of the initial fluid spill, gouge marks on the road, and even the vehicles' final resting places, which Theriault said were less important because Rhoades' vehicle had a second collision with Yafar's minivan.

Mancuso also pointed to Theriault's statement that testimony from a witness who saw the crash occur in Rhoades' lane would not make him re-evaluate his conclusions, and said his job was to "champion" the defense's version of events.

"He's holding the party line," Mancuso said.

Niemoczynski said Shook also picked and chose his evidence, and noted that investigators did not view news media's video footage of the crash site, which depicted the vehicles at final rest. Niemoczynski also said Shook did not account for any braking on Senavitis' part.

"Maybe you (don't account for Senavitis braking) if you're trying to make this guy look like he's all tanked up, driving in the wrong lane, not giving two hoots," Niemoczynski said.

Niemoczynski said Senavitis' right leg was broken in two places trying to push his brake. Continuing on this example, Niemoczynski said people may have the preconception that hospitals do not make mistakes, but pointed to one report that stated Senavitis' left leg was fractured, when it was the right leg that was actually injured.

On the issue of Senavitis' blood-alcohol level, Niemoczynski began to discuss whether the cotton swab used to pad down Senavitis' arm had isopropyl alcohol on it, but that line of his closing argument was quickly shot down with an objection and a sidebar because the issue had not been raised previously.

Mancuso revisited several medical witnesses' testimony, and also asked the jury to examine the position of Senavitis' truck as seen on a picture from bank security cameras.

"He couldn't even get into the proper parking lane. He's in the walkway," Mancuso said.

After closing arguments concluded, Vican began instructing the jury about 11 a.m Monday.