Witness testifies about afternoon woman was killed

Herchel Huff of Holbrook hides behind a notebook as he steps with a Dawson County deputy out of an elevator Tuesday afternoon at the courthouse in Lexington. Huff has pleaded not guilty to motor vehicle homicide (which includes the charge of driving while intoxicated), tampering with a witness and refusal to submit to a chemical test in the October 2007 death of Kasey Jo Warner of rural Arapahoe.
(Connie Jo Discoe/McCook Daily Gazette)

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Ryan Markwartt, 24, of Holbrook told defense and prosecution attorneys that Herchel Huff, 37, also of Holbrook, had consumed many beers and Jagermeister-Red Bull mixed drinks between about 2 p.m., and approximately 6 p.m., before Huff drove his blueish-green Camaro on country roads heading to Holbrook.

On a gravel road near Warner's home southwest Arapahoe, Huff's car struck Warner and killed her.

Huff has pleaded not guilty to motor vehicle homicide (which includes the charge of driving while intoxicated), tampering with a witness and refusal to submit to a chemical test.

Markwartt said Huff was buying drinks for both himself and Markwartt at two bars in downtown Oxford on Oct. 3. Neither ate anything throughout the afternoon, he said.

Markwartt said that Huff spent much of the afternoon on his cell phone, arguing with his wife. "He was annoyed, upset on the phone," Markwartt said. He witnessed Huff buying beers, both for himself and for Markwartt. "Four or five maybe," at one bar. "I'm not real for certain," Markwartt said, explaining that he wasn't sure exactly how many beers Huff had. He told the attorneys, "There was no reason to count how many beers each of us was having. There was no need to keep track of everything going on."

"But he was drinking as much, if not more than me. He said we (Markwartt and his boss) were drinking slow and he was one up on us." Markwartt's boss left after a beer at the first bar.

Huff bought razors and shaving cream at the Alco store and a bottle of water at the gas station before taking country roads heading back to Holbrook. Markwartt said that Huff often drove very fast, sliding around corners.

When they rounded a curve on the river road southwest of Arapahoe, Markwartt testified, "I was watching some people harvesting in a field on the north." Huff's slamming on the brakes made him look out the windshield, Markwartt said. "He yelled, 'Oh, s---!,' the car slid toward the north ditch," Markwartt said. "In front of us, on the north shoulder of the road, were Kasey and her daughter." Markwartt continued, "I saw Kasey toss her daughter to the south side of the road. I remember the sound. I saw her go under the car. I felt her under the car."

Markwartt testified that he got out of the car, and Huff said he was worried about "getting our stories straight. He said he couldn't take the fall for this, that I had to say I was driving. I said, 'f--- no'."

Markwartt said he checked on Kasey, and Huff covered her with his shirt. Markwartt said that Kasey's daughter, 3-year-old Gentry -- who had been riding what he called "a little four-wheeler toy" -- was crying, scraped and scared. "I turned to run west to the first house I could find," Markwartt said. "It seemed like forever, it was quite a ways ... four, five minutes." No one answered when he banged on the door, he said, but a man inside was calling 911. "We got in his van and went back," to the accident scene, Markwartt said.

Huff again told Markwartt that they had to get their stories straight, Markwartt testified, that Markwartt had to tell law enforcement officers that he (Markwartt) was driving. "It happened two or three times," Markwartt said, testifying that he told an officer that Huff was driving.

Markwartt said that he voluntarily submitted to a blood alcohol content test at Cambridge Memorial Hospital.

Mike Guinen, lead prosecutor, told jurors in his opening statement, that also at the Cambridge hospital, Huff refused a blood alcohol test.

Richard Calkins of Alma, one of Huff's two attorneys, said in his opening statement that Markwartt didn't have a view of Huff for much of the afternoon, as Huff took telephone calls inside and outside the bars, that Markwartt and his boss were playing pool at the first bar. "He (Markwartt) has no idea how much Herchel Huff had to drink. He has no recollection of how much Mr. Huff had to drink," Calkins said.

Calkins said that on a "typical gravel country road," "around a blind corner, at sunset," Herchel Huff and Ryan Markwartt rounded a curve, Huff braked, the brakes locked up, the car fishtailed and Huff corrected toward the right side of the road. "There was a collision, and Kasey Jo Warner lost her life," Calkins said. Calkins said no one denies that the accident was a tragedy.

The evidence will show, Calkins said, that the collision happened within 30 to 40 yards, in two to three seconds. "Everything happens instantly," he said.

Calkins said that Deputy Vernon Levisay was not told that Huff was the driver. Calkins said that Deputy Lee Lozo failed to act on a smell of alcohol, that there was no field sobriety test, no PBT (preliminary breath test) and no interview of Huff.

Markwartt testified that both he and Huff were very upset. Markwartt said, "I was in shock. Yes, I was crying. I was laying there. Basically hysterical, yes."

In his opening statement, Calkins had described Huff as "distraught, crying, throwing up."

Testimony ended at 4:45 p.m. Ryan Markwartt stepped off the witness stand and took a seat on a gallery bench, his hands shaking, wiping at tears.

Furnas County District Judge James Doyle IV instructed the 12-person jury not to visit with anyone about the trial.

Testimony continued this morning at 9 a.m.