A crash that killed three Topeka Girl Scouts "wouldn't have happened" if a truck driver involved had slowed down "just a bit," jurors heard Tuesday from an attorney representing Amber Peery, charged with crimes linked to that crash.
Truck driver Robert Russell had been following the van Peery was driving going the same direction for "a long, long time" before she started to slow down, attorney Tom Bath said Tuesday during opening arguments for Peery's trial.
But Russell "kept barreling down the road" in October 2022 as Peery slowed, braked and turned on her blinker, Bath said.
Russell's semi-truck then struck the left rear of Peery's van as she sought to make a U-turn in front of him to pass through an opening in a barrier wall in the Kansas Turnpike, the Kansas Highway Patrol said.
Defense attorney: Amber Peery merely showed 'simple negligence'
Bath isn't claiming the crash was Russell's fault, he told jurors.
Still, he suggested Russell showed a lack of care that creates reasonable doubt as to whether Peery showed the level of negligence needed to convict her of the charges she faces, including aggravated battery and involuntary manslaughter.
Peery may have shown "simple negligence," Bath said, but, "This case isn't about simple negligence."
Bath added, "When you hear all the evidence, you're going to have to find her 'not guilty.'"
To convict Peery of involuntary manslaughter and/or aggravated battery, Shawnee County District Court Judge Jessica Heinen told jurors, they must conclude she drove recklessly in a manner that posed a substantial and unjustifiable risk to others.
Jurors must also conclude Peery's behavior constituted "a gross deviation from the standard of care a reasonable person would observe under the same circ*mstances," Heinen said.
Prosecutor says defendant told authorities, 'It's my fault'
A 10-man, five-woman jury began hearing testimony Tuesday in Peery's trial, which is expected to last through Friday. Twelve of those will actually decide the case. Three will be randomly selected at the end of the trial to be alternates.
Peery faces charges of three counts of involuntary manslaughter, two counts of aggravated battery and one count each of failure to maintain a single lane and making a U-turn on an interstate highway.
The involuntary manslaughter charges are linked to an Oct. 8, 2022, traffic crash on the Kansas Turnpike near Auburn that killed Laila El Azri Ennassari and Kylie Lunn, both 9, and Brooklyn Peery 8. Brooklyn was Amber Peery's daughter.
Amber Peery and her two other passengers — her daughter Carrington Peery, then 5, and Gabriella Ponomarez, then 9 — suffered injuries but survived. Amber Peery is charged with aggravated battery regarding the injuries they suffered.
The crash also involved a semi-trailer driven by Russell, then 70, of Huntsville, Alabama.
Thirty-three people watched Tuesday's opening arguments from the gallery.
Jurors first heard from Shawnee County assistant district attorney Will Manly, who began by reading them a statement Peery made after the crash to law enforcement.
Manly said: "'My daughter's dead and so are two other kids, and it's my fault.' These are her words. That's the defendant's explanation of what happened."
Manly said Amber Peery's van was part of a caravan of three vehicles that were en route to a Girl Scout event in Tonganoxie when they mistakenly started southbound on the Kansas Turnpike from its south Topeka exit.
Manly said the other two drivers realized they were going the wrong way and turned around, making U-turns through an opening in a Turnpike barrier wall between the highway's northbound and southbound lanes.
Those drivers contacted Amber Peery by cell phone, told her she needed to turn around, then pulled over and waited for her on the shoulder, Manly said.
He said Amber Peery decided to also turn around through an opening in the barrier wall, and slowed down as she approached one.
Meanwhile, Manly said, Russell — who had been southbound in the right lane behind Peery — moved into the left lane.
Peery turned on her blinker but "only for a short time," before she abruptly tried to make a sharp U-turn from the right southbound lane through the left southbound lane to go through the opening in the barrier wall, Manly said.
Her van was then struck in its driver's side rear area by Russell's semi-trailer, he said.
Prosecutor: 'Five kids paid the price for it'
Jurors during this week's trial will see forward-facing video from Russell's truck showing what happened, Manly said.
They will also see videotaped interviews with Amber Peery's surviving passengers, he said.
Amber Peery caused the triple fatality crash by turning illegally while disregarding both a "no U-turn" sign and a separate warning sign, Manly said.
"Five kids paid the price for it," he said. "Three of them the ultimate price."
After the crash, Manly said, Amber Peery told law enforcement: "I should have just kept going. I should have been late. I'm such an idiot."
Defense attorney: Jury will hear 'the rest of the story'
Bath told jurors that during Amber Peery's trial they would hear "the rest of the story."
Historically, people convicted of the types of charges Amber Peery faces have taken such reckless actions as speeding, driving drunk or on drugs, passing on the shoulder or driving while being distracted by their cell phone, Bath said.
Amber Peery was doing none of those things, he said.
Bath questioned how well Russell, who was using his cruise control, had been paying attention to the road prior to the crash.
He said Russell told the KHP that Amber Peery's van had turned left from the Turnpike's shoulder, but forward-facing video taken from his semi-truck showed she had actually turned from the highway's right lane.
Authorities included Russell's statement in a document they submitted to the court even though law enforcement knew it wasn't true, Bath said.
Bath said the Kansas Highway Patrol neglected to pursue some avenues of investigation it should have.
He suggested video from a camera that was inside his truck's cab would have shown Russell in the moments before the crash, yet authorities neglected to seek to acquire a copy of that video before charging Amber Peery.
Russell isn't able to travel and can't testify at Amber Peery's trial because he suffers from prostate cancer, which has metastasized to his bones, he said while appearing by Zoom at apretrial hearing last month.
Heinen agreed July 8to enable Amber Peery's attorneys to conduct a deposition to receive out-of-court testimony from Russell. Testimony taken at depositions may be used later in court.
Court records indicate Russell's deposition was taken late last month in Huntsville.
Contact Tim Hrenchir at threnchir@gannett.com or 785-213-5934.
