Expert opinion in the trial against Jana Giron for distracted driving controversial

TUCSON, Arizona (13 News) – A distracted driving expert testified Thursday, August 15, about the evidence in Jana Giron’s trial.

Giron is accused of a car crash that killed 21-year-old Caitlin Festerling and 22-year-old Paul Garcia in Oro Valley in 2019.

Dr. David Strayer, a professor of cognitive and neuroscience at the University of Utah, was called by the prosecution. He said Giron was distracted during the accident.

Her lawyers asked how he came to this conclusion and what it really meant.

Giron is charged with two counts of manslaughter, two counts of criminal damage, endangerment and tampering with evidence in connection with the fatal accident near Shannon and Lambert.

ADDITIONAL COVERAGE

Prosecutors said Giron was texting because she didn't hit the brakes when Festerling stopped to make a left turn.

Giron's Buick struck Festerling's Acura at 55 mph and was forced into the southbound lane. A white GMC pickup truck then struck the side of the car.

A log of text messages sent to and from Giron's phone showed a gap between 3:41 a.m. and 3:47 a.m., which is when a 911 call was made about the accident.

Strayer testified that Giron was distracted because she was waiting for a response to a question she had texted before the accident.

“First, was she texting? So we see that she was sending and receiving text messages on her phone. Second, the analysis shows that these activities occurred while she was driving and in close proximity to the scene of the accident,” Strayer told prosecutor Rachel Stiles as she sat on the witness stand.

“You're not looking where you're going, so if something happens during that time, it actually increases your risk of actually hitting something,” he explained.

“You're not here to say, based on this timing, that she took both hands off the wheel and was texting at the time of the collision. Is that your opinion?” Giron's defense attorney Dawn Priestman asked during cross-examination.

“My opinion is that she looked at her phone about 10 seconds after the accident. Yes, that's based on the information we got from her car and Hawk Analytics where she was when the text message came in,” he replied to Priestman.

“That she looked at her phone at some point before the collision?” Priestman asked.

“Correct,” Strayer replied.

“Okay, and on that basis you say she was distracted at the time of the collision?” Priestman clarified.

“Correct,” Strayer replied.

“Okay, I have no further questions,” Priestman said.

A log of SMS activity shows that two SMS messages were deleted that day, but the time they were sent or received is unknown.

The testimony is expected to continue into next week.

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