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Last updated on Tuesday, June 5, 2012
(BLOOMINGTON) - Jury selection got underway Monday in the case of a deadly boating crash that has already rewritten Indiana law.
Winston Wood, 21, stands charged with two counts of leaving the scene of an accident resulting in death and one count of leaving the scene of an accident causing injury. He was driving his father's ski boat the evening of June 28, 2010, when it collided with a bass boat on the south end of the lake, between the dam and Fourwinds marina.
Rusty and Susan Collier, of Bedford, were out fishing at sunset with their triplet grandsons. 51-year-old Susan and her 8-year-old grandson, Gage Pruett, were killed.
A blood test showed Winston had marijuana in his system.
The trial is expected to last one week.
If convicted, Wood could face a jail term of two to eight years for the two charges of leaving the scene of an accident resulting in death and six months to three years on the other charge.
Months after the crash, Rusty Collier asked state Sen. Brent Steele, R-Bedford, to lead an effort to change Indiana's boating while intoxicated law so that it is in line with the law for driving a motor vehicle while intoxicated, where having traces of drugs in the blood can lead to an operating while intoxicated charge.
The legislation became law in February. Under the previous statute, a person suspected of operating a boat under the influence of drugs could not be charged with OWI unless officers at the scene document impairment.
A blood test indicated Wood had traces of marijuana in his system, but investigators did not observe any signs of intoxication. He had not consumed alcohol before the crash.
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