Victor

After a three-day trial for Marshalltown man Jose Eduardo Victor — who was accused of being involved in an April hit and run car accident near the intersection of Fifth and Main streets — the jury heard closing arguments and reached a guilty verdict on three out of four charges Monday afternoon.

When the trial began last Thursday, four charges were brought against Victor, who pled not guilty to all of them — eluding resulting in injury, driving while license revoked, leaving the scene of an accident resulting in injury and possession of a controlled substance — methamphetamine.

The car accident in question occurred on April 25, and it involved a blue 2005 Chrysler 300 and a red 2001 Chevrolet Silverado truck. After officers from the Marshalltown Police Department attempted to initiate a traffic stop on the Chrysler driven by Victor, he accelerated and sped away. In the process, it collided with the Chevrolet, and Victor then left the scene of the accident in the Chrysler.

The jury was presented with multiple witness testimonies and various other evidence throughout the trial. On Monday afternoon as the trial drew to a close, they listened to the closing remarks from both the prosecution and the defense.

“Jose Victor fled the police on April 25 with no regard for anyone other than himself. No regard for any other drivers of pedestrians out at 9:30 in the morning on a Monday in a residential neighborhood. No regard for the police officers whose lives he endangered by eluding. Certainly, no regard for Stephen Wilkins, the driver of the red pickup that he crashed into. We know that because he fled after the crash,” Prosecutor Sarah Tupper said. “What mattered most to the defendant was continuing to flee from the police to save himself.”

As Tupper addressed the jury, she gave an overview of why she believed the state had proven each of the charges against Victor beyond a reasonable doubt, starting with the first count, eluding, resulting in bodily injury.

Tupper said in order to prove that it happened, she first needed to prove that Victor was driving a vehicle on that morning, something she felt she had done by providing multiple witnesses who testified to seeing Victor operating the vehicle.

In addition to several other officers with the MPD and Marshall County Sheriff’s Office, MPD Sgt. Casee Veren, the officer who initially tried to pull the vehicle over, testified that it was Victor in the vehicle.

The second fact Tupper said she needed to prove for the eluding charge was that Victor failed to bring the vehicle to a stop after being signaled to pull over, both visually and audibly, in other words, after seeing and hearing lights and sirens from a police vehicle.

Tupper pointed to Veren’s testimony once again as the officer said she turned on both her lights and sirens when she attempted to stop the Chrysler.

In addition to the aforementioned elements, Tupper said she also needed to prove Victor was driving 25 miles per hour over the speed limit or more and that this caused bodily injury to another individual. She again pointed to multiple witness testimonies, including more police officers who mentioned Victor’s speed as well as Wilkins, the driver of the truck, who testified regarding a stiffness in his neck that lasted several days after the accident.

For the possession of methamphetamine charge, Tupper cited Criminalist Amy Johnson’s testimony which stated that a syringe found in the backseat of Victor’s vehicle was loaded with methamphetamine.

Tupper continued with each separate charge, summarizing the evidence and testimonies that proved each element of the individual charges to the jury before giving one final statement.

“On April 25 of this year, the defendant acted with no regard for anyone other than himself that morning. He knew he was revoked and he couldn’t legally drive. He knew that he possessed methamphetamine in his car so he fled from the police, and he didn’t care who he endangered,” Tupper said. “Ladies and gentlemen, I’m asking you to find the defendant guilty of all four counts.”

After Tupper completed her closing statements, Victor’s defense attorney Christopher Clausen had the opportunity to address the jury on behalf of Victor.

“With regard to the issues in this case, the biggest one that I see is identification of the driver of that vehicle. We have three officers who tell us that they saw Mr. Victor driving. We have a video of that car going by, but we don’t have any still frames or any sufficient video to be able to do anything to identify that driver,” Clausen said. “The windshield that they’re looking through (in that video), it seems to me, would have sun reflecting off of it and if a witness is trying to look through a windshield and the sun is on it, your ability to see through it is compromised.”

Because it took two days before Victor was found and arrested after the April accident, Clausen said it was altogether possible that the reason officers were unable to find Victor on the scene was because another driver was operating the vehicle, and since they were looking for Victor, they didn’t notice another driver in the area.

“If (Victor) wasn’t the one driving the vehicle and there’s this significant collision and they’re looking for Jose Victor, the real driver might have been walking away completely unnoticed, for lack of a better term, hiding in plain sight,” Clausen said.

Throughout Clausen’s closing statement to the jury, he summarized the defense, asserting that there was no hard proof Victor was operating the vehicle. In regards to the possession of methamphetamine charge, because there could have been multiple other individuals in the car prior to April 25, Clausen said it may not have been Victor’s.

After thanking the jury for their time, Clausen asked them not to take the decision lightly as they deliberated.

“I’m asking you to focus on this, and if you are not firmly convinced he was the driver, I don’t think you can convict on anything if you have that doubt. If you do have that doubt, I think you have to vote not guilty. I know that that’s what the law requires, but I also know that what happens in jury rooms is not an easy decision,” Clausen said.

After a brief rebuttal from Prosecutor Tupper, the jury went into deliberation. It took a little over an hour for a verdict to be returned.

Victor was found guilty of eluding resulting in injury in the first degree, driving while license revoked and leaving the scene of an accident resulting in injury. Victor was found not guilty of possession of a controlled substance — methamphetamine.

After reading the verdict, presiding Judge Kim Riley dismissed the jury and announced that a court date for a sentencing hearing regarding the first three counts will be set for approximately four to six weeks from Monday.

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Contact Susanna Meyer at 641-753-6611 or smeyer@timesrepublican.com.