PANAMA CITY — Testimony begins Friday in the trial of a man accused of driving under the influence in a fatal car crash in 2011.
Tarrance Jerell Harrell, 22, is accused of being behind the wheel of a speeding car that crashed so violently at U.S. Business 98 and North Cove Boulevard on Oct. 22, 2011, that it tore the vehicle in two pieces and killed Danielle Guilford, a passenger in the car. Police believe Harrell then concealed from investigators that he was driving at the time of crash, effectively delaying a blood test that revealed his blood-alcohol content was 0.059.
Harrell’s defense attorney, Jean Marie Downing, isn’t conceding her client was driving the car.
“This is going to be a case about who was driving,” Downing said Wednesday.
Downing didn’t want to say much about the trial, but her recent court filings provide a glimpse into the defense strategy. She has filed a handful of motions asking Judge Michael Overstreet to suppress evidence in the case.
According to those motions:
After the crash, Miah Hill, an acquaintance of Harrell, told police she had been driving. Hill later said she lied to protect Harrell because he was on probation.
Police swabbed the driver’s side airbag after the crash and submitted the swabs to the Florida Department of Law Enforcement for DNA tests. The test result showed Hill’s DNA was on the airbag but not Harrell’s. The passenger side airbag had Hill’s blood, but was not swabbed for DNA.
Downing argued in one motion that the DNA analyst should not be allowed to testify about her opinion of how Hill’s DNA came to be on the airbags if she wasn’t driving, but the state’s argument was that the analyst has years of experience with DNA transfer. Overstreet has not ruled on the motion, according to the Clerk of Courts’ website.
Overstreet ruled against Downing on a motion seeking to keep from the jury the fact that Harrell was on probation for drug and gun charges. Downing argued such evidence would prejudice the jury against Harrell, but prosecutor Robert Sale argued it was necessary to explain why Hill told police she was driving.
Harrell is charged with DUI manslaughter, a second-degree felony punishable by up to 15 years in prison, and vehicular homicide, a first-degree felony punishable by up to 30 years in prison.