Jury weighs speed, safety in fatal cop crash

Garrett Shaddix told investigators he was driving 60 mph down South Hydraulic when he struck a car turning in front of him, killing the driver.

Speed is one of the elements jurors will consider when they resume deliberations this morning in the trial of the Wichita police officer charged with vehicular homicide.

Prosecutors say Shaddix was likely going much faster the night he crashed into Christopher Perkins' car, fatally injuring him.

An accident investigator with the Kansas Highway Patrol estimated Shaddix could have been going 68-73 mph while answering a call of "shots fired" around 9 p.m. on Dec. 13, 2009.

Shaddix was not using his flashing lights and siren on his patrol car.

"The direct cause of this accident was Mr. Shaddix ... his excessive speed and not using emergency equipment," prosecutor Aaron Breitenbach said in his closing arguments Wednesday afternoon.

Testimony during the trial indicated that officers need a supervisor's approval before they use their emergency equipment.

Sometimes, police testified, they don't want to alert suspects by turning on their lights or sirens.

But officers can ask to use their emergency equipment, and Breitenbach said Shaddix didn't exercise proper care and precautions that night.

Breitenbach said Shaddix had admitted passing a motorcyclist on the right — a hazardous maneuver — before the crash.

Shaddix may have been rushing to help another, Breitenbach said, "But he should have held the people he met on the way in the same regard."

Defense lawyer Steve Ariagno argued Shaddix's statements about his speed were more trustworthy than estimates by someone reconstructing an accident.

Shaddix had the right of way, and Perkins turned in front of the patrol car, Ariagno said.

"We have a word for that and it happens every day — an 'accident,' " Ariagno said.

Vehicular homicide is a misdemeanor. It's defined as an unintentional traffic death caused by taking unreasonable risks and driving which "constituted a material deviation from the standard of care which a reasonable person would observe under the same circumstances."

Ariagno said the standard of care is what other officers testified — they've also driven to calls at high speeds.

"Being a police officer does not equal having no restraints," prosecutor Tom Weilert said.

Weilert also dismissed the argument that it's something everyone does.

"That is the most repeated refrain parents ever hear —'Johnny did it,' " Weilert said.

Sedgwick County District Judge Jeff Syrios sent jurors home after they deliberated for about an hour Wednesday. They are set to return at 9 a.m. today.

This story was originally published April 7, 2011 at 12:00 AM with the headline "Jury weighs speed, safety in fatal cop crash."