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January 7, 2005Man guilty in teens' deathsByRecord-Eagle staff writer TRAVERSE CITY - After nearly four hours of deliberation, a jury has found a Kalkaska man guilty of causing a car accident that killed two area teens. Timothy Schubert, 38, was found guilty on two counts of negligent homicide in the Aug. 25 deaths of Adrian Morris and Christan DeWitt. The girls were in Morris' vehicle and pulled from Grand Traverse Crossing onto South Airport Road when Schubert struck and instantly killed them. Morris, 17, and DeWitt, 16, were students at Traverse City West Senior High. Schubert, who could face a maximum of two years in prison, said after the verdict he held no ill will against anyone. "It was a tragedy for the families and everybody concerned," he said leaving the courthouse. "A lot of negativeness comes out in things like this, but I have seen the good side of people through this, especially through the families of the girls. "The interesting thing, through this whole thing, is you think that one would become angry going through this, but I hold no resentment." During testimony Thursday afternoon, Schubert broke down on the witness stand as he recounted the crash that occurred moments after he had left the Grand Traverse Mall. "It happened very quick. There wasn't time to react," he said through tears. "I didn't have time to react." Schubert said he did not know how fast he was traveling, but that he had "accelerated ahead" of traffic before the accident happened. Afterward, he said he was in a daze. "I felt a sense of pain in my leg and my nose was bleeding," he said. "I knew something bad happened. I went to the car where the girls were, but I couldn't do anything. "I remember trying to help, but there was nothing I could do to help the girls. I just know it was bad." Prosecutors weren't permitted to delve into Schubert's driving record, which includes several speeding infractions and multiple revocations of his license over the last 12 years. Assistant prosecutor Robert Cooney questioned why Schubert failed to tell investigators he had been speeding. "You didn't want officers to know that when they interviewed you," Cooney said. On Thursday morning, the final prosecution witness was W.R. "Rusty" Haight, director of the Collision Safety Institute in California and one of two experts in the country certified to teach classes on data recorders placed into newer vehicles. Haight, a former San Diego police officer who taught crash reconstruction for 12 years, spent all morning testifying as a paid expert on the reliability of information taken from the recorder in Schubert's SUV. Defense attorney Joseph Fisher objected to Haight's role, an objection overruled by 13th Circuit Court Judge Philip Rodgers. When Cooney asked Haight his opinion about what caused the crash, Haight pointed the blame to Schubert. "I think the speed and driving leading up to (the accident) led to the crash," he said. In cross-examination, Fisher attempted to rattle Haight's testimony on information gleaned from the data recorder, and argued with Haight over when Schubert allegedly hit his brakes. Haight said it didn't matter because of the speed Schubert was traveling. "If he was at the same place (in the road) at 45 mph that he was at 71 mph, he could have stopped," he said. "It boils down to how fast he was going." In closing arguments, Cooney and Fisher offered the jury competing theories on accident responsibility. Fisher, after reading aloud the definition of reasonable doubt, told the jury that Morris should be blamed for the accident, not Schubert's driving or speed. "She never looked," he said. "And sometimes when you are 17 years old, you do things without thinking ... but in order to make a decision to move into traffic, you have to look." Cooney said Morris may have made a mistake by attempting to pull into traffic, but relied on Haight's testimony that she would have cleared traffic and been in the center turn lane within a third of a second. "(Fisher) wants you to put all the blame on Adrian Morris," he said. "But (Schubert) would have never been there in the first place if he hadn't been going 71 mph." Fisher said he would review the possibility of appealing the verdict against Schubert, who is scheduled to be sentenced on Feb. 4. "This impacts a lot of people," Schubert, who will remain free on bond, said. "I am truly sorry for my part in this and hope everyone can move on and do well."
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