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Jul 31, 2008 7:01 pm US/Central
Tearful Testimony Begins In Bus Crash Trial
MARSHALL, Minn. (WCCO) ―
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Olga Franco is charged with four counts of criminal vehicular homicide. (File)
CBS
Testimony was heard from several people on Thursday in the trial of the woman accused of causing a deadly school bus crash. Four elementary school students were killed in the February crash in Cottonwood, Minn.
Olga Franco is charged with four counts of criminal vehicular homicide. Several witnesses took the stand, including several EMTs who testified how hard it was to get Franco out of the driver's seat of the van.
The defense is expected to say it was Franco's boyfriend, not her, who was driving the van when it ran a stop sign and hit the bus. The boyfriend took off after the crash and hasn't been seen since.
A Minnesota State Patrol investigator took the stand, and said he couldn't confirm that another person had been in the van. There were also two witnesses who said they saw an "anxious" person near the van minutes after the accident, who quickly disappeared, never to be seen again.
The jury also heard from the school bus driver who described what it felt like when the bus flew forward, and then snapped back.
Also testifying, the man whose truck was crushed when the school bus fell on it. He walked into court with crutches because his right leg still hurts after four months in a nursing home. The driver, James Hancock, couldn't hold back tears as he described the accident in court.
Kim and Tim Louwagie, whose two daughters survived the accident, watched in court on Thursday. One daughter walked away from the crash with bruises and cuts, while the other had broken ribs and a torn spleen.
Their parents say both girls are still recovering, and both girls are still scared, wishing the trial is just over.
"For me it's part of the closure, its part of the healing process for us. And to come a support the other families who are here, families who lost their children," said Kim Louwagie.
Testimony in the Franco trial is expected to continue on Friday.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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