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State v. Powell12/13/2005
On the evening of April 23, 2003, twelve members of the Vilonia United Methodist Church left Vilonia, Arkansas to attend the Icthus Christian Music Festival in Kentucky. The group, which was traveling in two separate vehicles, a GMC Yukon and a church van, stopped briefly in Memphis before continuing east on Interstate 40. Near Jackson at mile marker 71, a trailer pulled by the Yukon, the second in the caravan, was struck by the defendant's vehicle. Marc Townsend, the driver of the Yukon lost control and the vehicle flipped four times before coming to rest on the westbound side of the interstate. Several passengers were ejected and one later died. The defendant was arrested for his role in the accident. The defendant was charged with three counts of vehicular assault for the injuries to Marc Townsend, Charles Himmler, and Scott Cordova. He was also charged with vehicular homicide by recklessness and by intoxication for the death of Keith Townsend and with two separate counts of driving under the influence .
At trial, Charles Coker, a member of the church, testified that the youth group had planned the trip to Icthus for several months. Coker testified that the other adults attending the festival were Lisa Johnson, who was the youth director, and Marc Townsend and that the teenagers making the trip were Jessica, Sara, and Katie Coker, Addie Wells, Erica Wyatt, Scott Cordova, Kayley Johnson, Keith Townsend, and Charles Himmler. Coker recalled that the group left the church at approximately 8:00 p.m. on the evening of the accident. Because the music festival was a camping event, the group packed all their camping gear onto a fourteen-foot, single-axle trailer that was attached to the Yukon. According to Coker, Erica Wyatt, Addie Wells, and the three Coker girls were riding in the church van while Ms. Johnson and the remaining teenagers were with Marc Townsend in the Yukon.
Coker testified that the group stopped approximately forty minutes prior to the accident for gas, snacks, and a restroom break before continuing eastbound on Interstate 40. He stated that the Yukon was in the lead and that the van followed approximately one hundred feet behind. Coker recalled that somewhere near mile marker 70, a blue or black sedan passed his vehicle in the left lane, drifted toward the Yukon, and then struck the left rear of the trailer. Coker testified that the car then "jerked back to the left real hard." He stated that when the car struck the trailer, "it just knocked it sideways." According to Coker, the Yukon then swerved and rolled over three or four times before coming to rest in the westbound lanes of the interstate. Coker related that he directed his daughter to use her cellular telephone to call 911, grabbed a flashlight, and found the trailer, which had come unhitched, as well as Himmler and Kayley Johnson in the median strip. Coker described both Himmler and Kayley Johnson as injured but conscious. He recalled that Keith Townsend, who was lying in the middle of the roadway, was conscious but not coherent. Coker remembered that after hearing Ms. Johnson shout that she could not find Cordova or Marc Townsend, he found the badly injured Marc Townsend was trapped inside the Yukon. Coker recalled that Marc Townsend's scalp had been essentially peeled away from his skull. He stated that Cordova, who was some forty feet away from the vehicle, had "massive facial injuries."
Coker testified that when the ambulance arrived, he directed EMS workers to Keith Townsend first because he "didn't think Marc had a chance" and that despite the efforts of the EMS workers, Keith Townsend died at the scene. Coker stated that after being freed from the vehicle, Marc Townsend was transported by helicopt
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