QUEENSBURY, N.Y. – The first week of Alexander West's trial wrapped up in Warren County Friday evening. Eight witnesses took the stand Friday, by far the most since witness testimony began on Wednesday.
The Lake George man faces 12 counts tied to a deadly boat crash on Lake George last July. West, 24, is accused of being drunk and high when causing a boat crash that killed eight year-old Charlotte McCue of California before fleeing the scene and not reporting it to police.
Major James LaFarr of the Warren County Sheriff's Office was the final witness of the day, and he was on the stand for more than an hour. During the end of her cross examination of LaFarr, defense attorney Cheryl Coleman produced a diagram that came from LaFarr's notes about the case.
Based on conversations he had with investigators, LaFarr testified he drew conclusions of the crash and sketched an image of the boat that belonged to the McCue and Knarr families.
Prosecutors allege West, who was driving a boat with four passengers on board, hit the other boat from behind and went over the top of it, almost immediately killing Charlotte.
On his diagram, LaFarr sketched an arrow pointing to the center of the boat, depicting where he believes it was struck. Coleman says that completely contradicts the prosecution's claims that the boat was struck from the rear.
"Alex did have the right of way and that this was a crisscross situation and not an overtaking situation,” Coleman told reporters after Friday’s proceedings were complete. “Under the navigation law and everything about it, Alex had the right of way in terms of the accident."
Along with claiming that West had the right of way, Coleman says the driver of the other boat, Robert Knarr, refused a chemical blood alcohol test and had also been drinking. Knarr is the grandfather of McCue and was interviewed by LaFarr after he responded to Glens Falls Hospital in the hours after the crash. LaFarr testified he did not smell alcohol on Knarr’s breath and said he had no reason to suspect he was drinking alcohol.
Earlier in the day, the jury heard testimony from Detective Timothy Turnbull, an off-duty officer from the Cheektowaga Police Department who was vacationing at Lake George’s Tea Island Resort last July 25.
He testified he and his wife were sitting on a dock by the lake around 9:30 on the night of July 25 after having dinner when they heard sirens coming from the lake, followed by seeing emergency boats heading north. Not long after, he says the couple heard and then saw another boat that did not have its lights on pull up to the dock at Tea Island, which was between 20 and 30 feet from where he was sitting.
Seeing four individuals on board, Turnbull says he heard some of the group whispering and that a blonde girl on the boat told others to "shut the [expletive] up" and to not text or say anything to anyone. A series of 911 calls Turnbull made were then played for jurors, during which Turnbull said he saw the group head north on Lake Shore Drive on foot after they put a cover on the boat.
Coleman questioned how Turnbull was able to see anything clearly in the dark, taking particular issue with how he testified on Friday that he saw two men try to obscure their faces with hooded sweatshirts, but that at the time of the 911 call, he said he could not see what they were wearing.
Turnbull did confirm that he never once heard who he referred to as the "smaller male," whom was later revealed to be West, say anything about attempting to concealing the crime, and that those comments all came from the blond female later identified as passenger Christine Tiger.
During her interview with reporters, Coleman allowed she had concerns about her case before the trial, but now feels relatively confident three days in. She also says she cares deeply for Alex and his family.
"You look at him and you see goodness inside; you don't see any badness," Coleman said.
Coleman said she's undecided about putting West on the stand in attempt to show the jurors that side of his personality.
Testimony resumes Monday at 9:30 a.m.