On Thursday, an officer from the California Highway Patrol testified against a truck driver who was involved in a fatal 2014 crash, claiming that he attempted to erase information from the truck’s on-board computer after the crash.
According to The San Luis Obispo Tribune, 56-year-old truck driver Phillip Ken Trujillo was making a left turn while traveling on Highway 101 in Paso Robles, California, when an oncoming minivan hit his trailer.
The minivan was driven by a 22-year-old woman who was high on marijuana and methamphetamine at the time of the crash. The minivan’s driver and her three passengers were killed in the crash.
Despite the 22-year-old’s drug intoxication, Trujillo was charged with four counts of vehicular manslaughter because officers say he failed to yield to oncoming traffic while making the left turn.
More than a year after the accident, a California Highway Patrol officer offered a new piece of evidence while testifying against the driver.
CHP officer Timothy Maxwell told the court that he overheard Trujillo talking on his cellphone after the crash, “repeating instructions aloud about moving the turn signal up and down, while his hand was in the area of the ignition.”
When asked by Deputy District Attorney Charlie Blair if Trujillo was “trying to erase the computer codes,” Maxwell replied “Yes.”
The officer said that Trujillo was attempting to hide his truck’s mechanical problems and that he was driving an “unsafe vehicle,” which was a contributing factor in the crash.
Trujillo’s lawyer argued that because two other vehicles successfully crossed the intersection as the truck was turning, that the 22-year-old drug intoxication was to blame for the crash.
According to police reports, the 22-year-old driver did not attempt to avoid the truck’s trailer as she crossed the intersection.
The trial is ongoing.