By Erin Sullivan, Times Staff Writer
Wednesday, January 25, 2012
NEW PORT RICHEY — Jurors have taken a break for lunch and will begin deliberating on the fate of Betty-Jo Tagerson this afternoon.
The 40-year-old Hudson woman is accused of losing control of her Jeep on Nov. 5, 2010 and driving through a yard full of girls playing tag. Five-year-old triplet Delaney Rossman was killed and sister Gabrielle Rossman was seriously injured. A doctor testified earlier this week that Delaney had tire marks on her face and her skull was crushed.
Tagerson said she hyperventilated and passed out in her Jeep right after she pushed her foot on the gas pedal and that is what caused the crash. She said she doesn't remember the accident. Experts testified that she could not have lost consciousness at that moment, because her car would have kept veering east and it would not have continued to accelerate. Instead, Tagerson's Jeep over corrected soon after hitting the road, careened east, jumped a curb, smashed a mailbox and began rolling through her neighbor's yard toward the little girls. After hitting a parked truck and the children, Tagerson fell out of her open driver's side door, which had a broken latch.
"She may have lost consciousness when she was ejected and hit the pavement," said Assistant State Attorney Chris Sprowls. Tagerson landed on the driveway of the house where the girls played.
But Tagerson "was awake as she is right in this courtroom right now," Sprowls said, "struggling to stay inside her car, one hand on the wheel and her foot on the gas."
Medical experts for the state testified that Tagerson never complained of blackouts until July 2011.
Tagerson claims she did.
"So you told American Primary Care that you suffered from blackouts or seizures or passing out," Sprowls said during Tagerson's testimony Tuesday.
"Yes, I did," she said.
"You went to American Primary Care within a few days, a week?" Sprowls said.
"Probably two weeks," she said.
"You are saying within two weeks you went to the folks at American Primary Care and said that you suffer from blackouts?"
"Yes," Tagerson said.
A nurse at American Primary Care testified this morning that nothing in Tagerson's medical records from the facility mention a complaint of blacking out until a visit in July 2011 — eight months after the crash. At that visit, Tagerson was referred to a cardiologist. The cardiologist testified that Tagerson's tests were normal and he saw nothing that would cause her to lose consciousness. Tagerson was also referred for a brain scan. A radiologist testified he also saw nothing abnormal in her tests.
The nurse said Tagerson has a prescription of Xanax, an anti-anxiety medication. It was unclear if Tagerson took that on Nov. 5, 2010 and, if so, in what amounts. During the three-day trial, there has been no mention of whether Tagerson had drugs in her system, although the Florida Highway Patrol report on the crash said Tagerson had prescribed levels of oxycodone in her system that night.
Tagerson testified Tuesday that she argued that night with her boyfriend and got into her truck. She needed to "cool down" so she was going to drive to the store.
"As I drove away I passed out in the car," Tagerson said, "and I don't know what happened."
"Do you remember the collision at all?" her attorney Dennis Watson asked.
"No," she said.
Witnesses said they heard Tagerson's tires squeal out of her yard that night. Tagerson disagreed.
"I just want to be clear: Is your testimony to these jurors that when you put your foot on the gas, you weren't trying to go fast?" Sprowls asked.
"I was going normal speed," Tagerson testified. "I didn't go rip roaring out of there."
Crash expert John Murdoch said the accident could not have happened with Tagerson unconscious.
"In real life if somebody passes out, they relax," Murdoch testified. He said the car was accelerating at maximum capacity — which means the gas pedal was to the floor — and reached more than 35 mph within 50 paces. Murdoch said evidence at the scene showed Tagerson attempted to brake a few feet before impact, but it didn't help.
Tagerson testified she wasn't wearing her seat belt and had not tied her driver's side door shut. She said the latch was broken and she normally used a bungee cord to keep it closed.
Murdoch said Tagerson began slipping out of the driver's side door as she lost control. After hitting a parked truck and the Rossman siblings, Tagerson fell out of the Jeep.
Murdoch claimed if Tagerson had worn her seat belt, she wouldn't have been fighting to stay inside the car, which could have prevented the tragedy.
"There would have been no loss of control in my opinion," Murdoch said.
Tagerson is charged with vehicular homicide, culpable negligence manslaughter and two counts of reckless driving with serious injury. She faces up to 25 years in prison if convicted. Her fate is in the hands of a six-member jury, consisting of three men and three women.
Tagerson was "indifferent" to the danger she presented to the community, said Assistant State Attorney Bryan Sarabia.
"She didn't care when she peeled out of her yard. She didn't care that she didn't shut the door," Sarabia said. "She didn't care that she didn't wear her seat belt. None of those things entered the defendant's mind.
"She just thought: 'I'm angry. I'm going to take off. Who cares about the consequences?"
Watson, the defense attorney, told the jury what happened was tragic. But "it is possible to have a death that is not a crime," Watson said. "It's not good. No one is telling you that that's a good thing.
"But it is still possible in this country to have an accident that is not criminal."
He said the state has not proven the crash was not accidental.
"No one is able to say that Ms. Tagerson set out looking for a yard full of kids to drive through," Watson said.
The surviving triplets — Gabrielle and Isabella Rossman — testified in court Tuesday. They were in the courtroom Wednesday, again wearing matching outfits, snugly sitting between relatives who had their arms around them. The girls turned 7 on Jan. 10. Delaney got a balloon and flowers too. The girls brought Delaney's presents to a memorial they have for her in their backyard. The girls and their mother live with relatives in Shady Hills. They never went back to the Hudson house after the crash. The girls are still so petite their legs swung inches from the floor, their black slippers dangling off their feet.
Erin Sullivan can be reached at esullivan@tampabay.com or (727) 869-6229.