Apr 15, 2007 5:37 pm US/Central
Chippewa Falls Bus Crash Trial Begins Monday
Chippewa Falls, Wis. (AP) ―
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Michael Kozlowski, 24, of Schererville, Ind., has pleaded not guilty to charges related to the Oct. 16, 2005 crash on Interstate 94 near Osseo. (File)
CBS
The trial starts Monday for a truck driver accused in a 2005 crash that killed five people on a charter bus filled with high school students.
Michael Kozlowski, 24, of Schererville, Ind., has pleaded not guilty to charges related to the Oct. 16, 2005 crash on Interstate 94 near Osseo.
He faces five counts of homicide by negligent operation of a vehicle, seven counts of causing great bodily harm by reckless driving, and 19 misdemeanor counts of causing injury by great bodily harm.
The accident occurred when a charter bus slammed into Kozlowski's overturned semi. The bus was filled with 44 students, teachers and chaperones from Chippewa Falls High School returning from a marching band competition in Whitewater. The crash killed five and injured 29.
Killed were band director Doug Greenhalgh, his wife Therese, their granddaughter Morgan, student teacher Branden Atherton, and bus driver Paul Rasmus.
The case was moved from Eau Claire County, where the accident took place, to St. Croix County because of pre-trial publicity.
Eau Claire County District Attorney Rich White was expected to try to convince a jury that Kozlowski tipped his truck over both westbound lanes of Interstate 94 after falling asleep. White will argue Kozlowski's activities in the days before the crash left him fatigued.
Kozlowski's attorney, Earl Gray, of St. Paul, Minn., was expected to argue that any court proceedings involving Kozlowski's role in the crash should be civil, not criminal.
The trial is expected to last two weeks. Monday's proceedings will likely be limited to jury selection and opening statements. Twelve jurors and four alternate jurors will be selected. Witness testimony is expected to begin Tuesday.
Kozlowski told officers at the scene the night of the accident that he did not fall asleep, and later said he was trying to pull off to the side of the road to go to the bathroom.
However, he had just passed an exit about a mile before, and the truck was found in a high gear, not consistent with someone deliberately pulling off the road intending to stop a large truck.
(© 2007 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)
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