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Last updated on Wednesday, January 21, 2015
(BEDFORD) - “Did I kill my wife?” “How’s my wife?” “Did I kill my wife?”
Those were the questions the prosecution says 32-year-old Kyle Hutton allegedly asked a nurse as he was being flown by helicopter to an Indianapolis Hospital.
Hutton is standing trial in Lawrence County Superior Court I for allegedly driving intoxicated the night of July 28, 2012 and crashing his CJ7 Jeep on Bailey Scales Road. The accident killed his wife, 30-year-old Morgan Hutton; his friend, 33-year-old Dasan Spires and Spire's fiancee, 38-year-old Laura Duncan.
Deputy Prosecutor Jody Donaldson said in opening statements that Hutton's blood alcohol content was more than three times the legal limit the night of the deadly crash. Hutton is charged with three counts of causing death while operating a vehicle with a blood alcohol level of .15 or greater.
Donaldson also told the jury that Hutton didn't call 911 right after the accident happened, but walked to his home at 220 Riley Boulevard and called.
Bedford Police officers rushed to the crash scene and to Hutton's home. When they arrived at the crash scene they discovered the bodies of Morgan Hutton, Spires and Duncan. All had been catapulted several feet from the Jeep after it struck a utility pole and breaking it in three places. Morgan's body was found 90 feet from the Jeep, Spires' body was found 45 feet from the initial contact with the Jeep landing on him and Duncan's body hit the pole and was found 60 feet from the vehicle.
Police say Hutton was traveling around 45 miles per hour when he lost control of the Jeep on Bailey Scales Road. The Jeep slid across the roadway, went over an embankment and hit a utility pole just behind the passenger door, catapulting the occupants from the vehicle.
The prosecution says Kyle was injured after his body collided with the steering wheel and was then thrown about 20 feet from the vehicle. He suffered extensive chest injuries including a collapsed lung.
But Defense Attorney Samuel Shapiro says Hutton was not driving the Jeep when the crash happened, Morgan Hutton was.
Shapiro says the group had spent the day at Lake Monroe and then stopped at Salt Creek Brewery on their way home. He told the jury that the group had taken coolers of Bud Lite to the lake and had been drinking. After listening to a band at the brewery, the group decided they would head back to Bedford and drop Kyle off because he had to work at his business and the other three would go back downtown. When they left the brewery Kyle was driving.
On the way to Kyle's home, the women need to make a bathroom break, so Kyle pulled off the side of the road at a PVC cleanup site. When the women came back to the Jeep, Morgan insisted on driving and got behind the wheel.
Kyle, who was now in the back seat, dozed off. Shapiro told the jury that Kyle heard Morgan scream "deer" and Dasan saying "watch out" and hen then felt the Jeep jerk. He then woke up about 10 feet from Morgan in a panic because he can't find a cell phone to call 911.
"Kyle was not driving at the time of this tragedy," Shapiro told the jury.
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