Anchorage, Alaska — When a pickup truck crossed the double yellow line along the Seward Highway and killed two occupants of a Jeep Grand Cherokee, police initially thought the accident was another tragic mistake by a momentarily distracted driver.
Then they spotted the dashboard DVD player.
In what may be the first trial of its kind in the United States, prosecutors have accused the pickup truck's driver of second-degree murder for watching a movie instead of the road when he crashed head-on into the Jeep.
The pickup's driver, Erwin Petterson, denies using the DVD player as he drove north on Oct. 12, 2002, and contends that he was only listening to music from a compact disc, said his lawyer, Chuck Robinson.
“It's an excessive charge for what happened here,” he said. “This was not a murder. Even the state medical examiner said during cross-examination that the manner of death for the people in the other car was accidental.”
Mr. Petterson, 29, is accused of killing Robert and Donna Weiser of Anchorage while on a three-hour drive between Kenai and Anchorage. In his truck was the equivalent of a home entertainment system — a DVD player, speakers and a Sony PlayStation 2.
While no Alaska law prohibits operating a DVD player in view of a driver, prosecutor June Stein said the facts warranted charging Mr. Petterson under one of two theories: that he knew his conduct was substantially certain to cause death, or that he knowingly engaged in conduct showing extreme indifference to human life.
Initial Alaska State Trooper reports said Mr. Petterson was at fault when he took his eyes off the road to reach for a soft drink. Mr. Stein, though, will try to prove that the DVD player was on, apparently playing the movie Road Trip.
“We know it was,” she said. “It was wired so that the screen was in the open position when the ignition key was turned out.”
The murder trial, which got under way last week in Kenai Superior Court, may be the first of its kind in the nation, said Matthew Swantson, director of communications for the Consumer Electronics Association, a trade association.
Installed as recommended, DVD players and TV screens are either visible only from the back seats or will not work unless the vehicle is in park. Owners can defeat the safety measures, however, by installing the devices themselves, as Mr. Petterson did, prosecutors say.
Liz Neblett, spokeswoman for the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, said more than 25 per cent of police-reported crashes are distraction related, which covers everything from cell-phone use to changing stations on a radio, screaming at kids, eating, applying makeup or reading a newspaper.
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