Jury selected in DUI manslaughter case

PANAMA CITY – The man charged in a fatal hit-and-run crash last year admitted to being behind the wheel of the SUV police found damaged and abandoned near the scene, according to court records.

Attorneys selected a jury Monday morning to decide the fate of a Joseph Christopher Acoff, who is accused of fleeing the scene of a Panama City Beach crash last year that killed 23-year-old Phillip Drozd. Acoff, 38, is charged with five felonies, including fleeing the scene of a crash involving death, DUI manslaughter and vehicular homicide, that could land him in prison for up to 30 years.

But according to a motion filed by Devin Collier, Acoff’s attorney, the state doesn’t have any evidence to establish Acoff was driving on July 22, 2012, without playing a phone call he placed from the jail the next day, in which he allegedly admitted he was behind the wheel. Collier, who declined to comment Monday, cited case law that says a defendant’s admission cannot be the only evidence of his guilt.

According to an investigative report by Panama City Beach police, a SUV belonging to Acoff’s significant other was discovered abandoned near the scene of the crash on Back Beach Road. Police went to the owner’s apartment and found Acoff asleep in the stairwell.

When he woke up, he made statements such as “This is all on me,” and “I went to sleep under the wheel and that is what happened.” Acoff’s blood-alcohol content was .17, more than twice the legal limit, according to the report.

Drozd’s vehicle overturned after the vehicle Acoff allegedly drove rear-ended it while they both headed eastbound on Back Beach Road. Drozd was thrown from the vehicle, and he died.

Acoff allegedly called a cab to take him home.

The trial is expected to conclude Tuesday.