Kami Ellis

WARSAW — The prosecution rests in the trial of Scott Wilkins, 37, 136 N. Main St., Milford.

The trial reconvened following a lunch break Wednesday, Feb. 17, with further testimony by Lt. Chris McKeand, Kosciusko County Sheriff’s Department. McKeand is a part of the department’s Fatal Alcohol Crash Team and responded to the Dec. 27, accident that claimed the life of Kami Ellis.

Questions for McKeand surrounded his reconstruction of the crash scene, including how fast the vehicle was going. To measure this, McKeand said, it was necessary to analyze every aspect of the accident scene, including what are known as the yaw marks in the road, similar to skid marks but made when a vehicle’s tires are still spinning. Skid marks, he said, are made after brakes are applied and the tires stop spinning.

Yaw marks, McKeand went on, happen when a vehicle is traveling at a very high rate of speed and the driver loses control. The faster the speed, the straighter the yaw marks, he said. The yaw marks begin on the surface of CR 1350 and continue to the side of a road, where the vehicle impacted a tree stump carved into a business sign. From there, the vehicle continued into a field.

McKeand said officers also took into account the fact that the car’s engine had been ejected and thrown approximately 223 feet from the point of impact. The entire length of the scene, he said, was more than 600 feet.

Using these measurements, McKeand estimated that the engine, after ejected from the vehicle, was traveling at approximately 73 miles per hour. He found that, after impact, the vehicle was likely going around 57 miles per hour. Before impact, he said, the car was most likely going between 86 and 95 miles per hour, however he added that it could have been going faster.

“In your expertise, what was the cause of the crash that killed Kami Ellis?” Deputy Prosecutor Karin McGrath said.

“Excessive speed,” McKeand replied. “Very excessive speed.”

Wilkins’s attorney, Mark Caruso, asked if moisture could have affected the roads frictional value, making it easier for Wilkins to have lost control.

“It would decrease it,” McKeand said. When McGrath asked if Wilkins saw any moisture, snow or winter mist on the roadway, he responded that he had not.

After a short break, the prosecution brought in Dr. Sheila Arnold with the Indiana State Department of Toxicology. The question was whether the presence of marijuana in Wilkins’s system could have been a contributing factor in the accident.

Arnold explained about tetrahydrocannabinol, the active ingredient in marijuana. Arnold noted that, even if THC does not show up in a blood test, it can still be present in the brain. Caruso twice objected to a question by McGrath, asking Arnold if she, knowing what she knows about THC, would feel comfortable getting into a vehicle with someone who has ingested marijuana, even if it is not showing up in that person’s blood.

The question was allowed to stand and Arnold replied that she would not feel safe getting in a car in that situation.

A juror asked how long a nanogram of THC stays in the brain, to which Arnold responded that it depends on the person.

“It’s going to be different for different people,” she said.

Frequent users often have a THC deposit built up in the brain.

Following another break, the prosecution rested and the defense brought in Dr. Daniel Joseph McCoy, a professional toxicologist and independent contractor.

McCoy confirmed that he had reviewed Wilkins’s test results, which found 11.3 nanograms per milliliter of THC in Wilkins’s blood and 1,407 in his urine. Caruso asked him to explain the large difference in numbers, to which he responded that over time the THC metabolite builds up on the urine and, from there, is expelled from the body.

“It’s guaranteed it will always be higher in the urine than it is in the blood,” McCoy said.

When THC is inhaled, McCoy said, the user begins to get high immediately but does not reach peak until about10 to 20 minutes later. After use, it remains detectable as long as it is in the system. However, McCoy was not comfortable saying whether or not a person’s driving would be affected 7 hours after use.

Caruso presented a document McCoy had prepared, to which McGrath objected, saying the jury did not need to read the document, since McCoy was giving his verbal testimony. The objection was overruled.

McCoy, like Arnold, confirmed that active THC could remain in the brain, even when it is not detectable in the blood. Frequent users, he added, may have it in their blood all the time yet show no effects.

The trial will reconvene at 9 a.m. Thursday, Feb. 18. Caruso plans to meet with Wilkins about possibly testifying during Thursdays’ proceedings.

Related:

• Jury Reviews Medical Documents
• Further Evidence Presented In Wilkins Trial
• Wilkins Trial Continues
• State Begins Presenting Its Case
• Jury Trial Begins In 2014 Fatal Accident
• Two Arrested Following Saturday Traffic Fatality
• Victim In Saturday’s Crash Identified
• One Dies In Fatal Accident Near Milford

Scott Wilkins was allegedly driving this vehicle which took the life of Kami Ellis, Nappanee, on the early morning hours of Dec. 27, 2014.