Prosecution expected to complete case Monday
By Rae KrugerBy Rae Kruger
rkruger@marshallindependent.com
The prosecution is expected to complete its case Monday against Olga M. Franco, the woman charged in the fatal Lakeview School bus crash. Franco's trial is being held in Kandiyohi County District Court in Willmar after it was moved from Lyon County in Marshall in response to the defense's concerns about Franco receiving a fair and impartial jury.
Lyon County Attorney Rick Maes began questioning witnesses in support of the county's charges of criminal vehicular homicide, criminal vehicular injury, stop sign violation, no driver's license, and false name and date of birth to a peace officer charges against Franco.
Maes is expected to question final witnesses Monday, and the defense is expected to give opening statements.
Franco was the driver of the mini-van that hit the school bus on Feb. 19, the complaint alleges.
Franco's lawyers say Franco's boyfriend Francisco S. Mendoza was the driver.
Maes questioned more than 12 witnesses in his case, including an EMT from Cottonwood, a former Cottonwood volunteer firefighter, a Cottonwood firefighter, two Marshall volunteer firefighters, two Minnesota State Patrol Officer, an Immigration and Customs Exchange agent, a Bureau of Criminal Apprehension officer in forensics and other witnesses at the scene of the crash.
Cottonwood EMT Kelly Kimpe, former Cottonwood firefighter Joe Kimpe and current Cottonwood volunteer firefighter Kirk Lovsness were at the scene within minutes, the three testified last week.
All three witnesses said they found Franco trapped in the driver's seat of the mini-van.
"(There) was one occupant in the van, a female," Lovsness said. "She was directly behind the steering wheel in the driver's seat.
"From the waist down, the person was pinned in the wreckage," Lovsness added. "Her right foot was trapped on the floor of the wreckage near the counsel, near the accelerator area."
Lovsness said he tried to free Franco's leg from the van but "it was just impossible to get big pieces of equipment in there to get leverage."
Firefighters needed smaller tools that would be brought by the Marshall Fire Department, Lovsness said.
Lovsness paused at times during his testimony in what appeared to be attempts to contain his emotions. Lovsness described the difficulty in freeing and removing Franco from the van and said when his chief told him to bring the extraction tools to a different vehicle he asked for just a few more minutes at the van.
Lovsness said in response to cross examination by Franco's lawyer Manuel Guerrero it took him three to four minutes to get from work to the crash scene.
Joe Kimpe had been visiting his parents in Minneota and was returning to Cottonwood on Lyon County Road 24 when he saw the crash site. His wife, Kelly Kimpe, was already at the van."
"I went to the van and there was already a lady in the driver's seat," Joe Kimpe said.
He tried to move the driver's seat in attempt to free Franco's right leg and foot, but the seat did not move, Joe Kimpe said. "Her foot was struck down by the gas pedal,"Joe Kimpe said.
School bus driver Dennis Devereaux described what he saw before the crash happened.
Devereaux was driving the school bus south on Highway 23 when he saw a red van about seven to 10 car lengths back from the railroad tracks on Lyon County Road 24 to his right.
"I thought, it's going too fast, it doesn't look like it (will) stop," Devereaux said of the van and the stop sigh at the intersection of Highway 23 and County Road 24.
"I really thought it would miss the bus," Devereaux said.
Devereaux said when the van went over the railroad tracks, "everything lifted off the road. The suspension lifted and came back down, then it was just in our side."
Devereaux cried after he completed a description of removing kids from the bus.
The defense did not cross examine Devereaux.
Family members of crash victims in the courtroom when Devereaux testified cried, and one grandmother left the courtroom when Devereaux completed his testimony.
Two drivers following the bus on Highway 23 before the crash also testified last week.
Cynthia Dobrenski said she saw the van on County Road 24 and believed it would hit the bus. The van went through the stop sign and hit the bus, Dobrenski said.
Shortly after the van hit the bus, Dobrenski said she saw a man standing by the passenger side of the van. "All of a sudden, he appeared," Dobrenski said.
Semi truck driver Larry Moat said he saw one person in the mini-van, and within a couple of minutes of the crash he saw a man standing beside the passenger side of the mini-van.
"I believe it was a female in the mini-van," Moat said.
A grandfather of two of the victims, David Javens, said last week "we're pretty well satisfied with the trial. We've got a good judge. Rick Maes is doing a good job. He's well prepared."
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rangeral
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08-03-08 8:46 PM
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Thank you to the staff and reporters from the Independent for your complete and professional coverage of this tragic event and its aftermath. I know it is not easy to do your job when it affects so many around you. I know you have work left to be done but I also want to recognize your efforts at a somber time. Thank you!
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FreeThinker
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08-03-08 5:25 PM
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Mr. Guerrero you can put a fork in your client, shes done. Painful to read this and it's just a newspaper account, I'm sure it doesn't come close to the emotion in the courtroom. Best wishes to all the emergency personnel who gave testimony and especially to Mr. Devereaux. It took real courage to relive something that I'm sure you would all like to forget. I hope when this is over that the families, and the town of Cottonwood will have peace and closure.
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