By BOB HIGH

Jose Jesus Garcia Lopez’s time in prison is to be decided Tuesday by the same jury which convicted him Friday evening of being the driver that caused the death of a Tabor City woman in a head-on crash in December 2004.

A new state law now requires a jury, after initial conviction, to rule on any aggravating circumstances in a crime, and the jury will begin hearing prosecutors present such information Tuesday at 9:30 a.m.

Lopez escaped a second-degree murder conviction when the jury ruled the death of 20-year-old Natalie Housand was involuntary manslaughter. This dropped the possible prison time from more than 20 years to a little more than eight years.

The jury also found the Nakina man, who showed no sense of surprise and quietly watched the jury polled, guilty of felony motor vehicle death, hit-and-run driving after a wreck involving serious injury and death, and assault with a deadly weapon inflicting serious injuries.

The 34-year-old Lopez, who maintained throughout the trial that a head injury he suffered on that Dec. 19 evening caused him to not remember any details of the collision, faces a term that could be 75 months minimum and 101 months maximum.

Lopez’ terms will likely be served consecutively, and the assault charge carries a minimum of 31 months and a maximum of 47 months if aggravating factors are found.

The involuntary manslaughter conviction can add another 20 to 24 months, plus there’s 16 to 20 months possible for felony death by motor vehicle, and eight to 10 months on the hit-and-run conviction.

Lopez will have a credit of 527 days (more than 17 months) served in jail toward any prison term since he has been held in custody since the night of the crash.

The jury began deliberating at 2:50 p.m. Friday and returned with a question for Judge Ola Lewis at 4:20 p.m. They spent 15 minutes reviewing more than 40 photographs showing the shattered remains of Lopez’s Jeep and Housand’s Mazda.

The jury foreman held out three of the photos and each juror studied each of them for another few minutes before they began to deliberate again at 5 p.m. Thirty minutes later, they had a verdict.

All of the jurors were again cautioned to speak to no one about the case, nor read or hear stories about the trial because their work isn’t done. The prosecution, led by Assistant District Attorney Chris Gentry, will present their arguments to the jury on aggravating factors.

Defense testimony

Defense attorney Scott Dorman, after a near three-hour cross examination of Highway Patrol wreck reconstruction expert Tony Parrish, obtained information about how a front-seat passenger – not wearing a seat belt -- is catapulted through the windshield in most head-on crashes.

Dorman insisted throughout the trial that Lopez wasn’t the driver of the Jeep that night, but a passenger. However, five witnesses for the state testified Lopez told them he was driving.

Parrish, however, said it was possible for a driver – after an airbag inflated and cushioned the initial force – to be thrown out of the driver’s side window as the vehicle overturned.

Parrish also noted that Highway Patrol officers admitted making mistakes, such as not reading Lopez his rights before questioning him, and the fact that a sample of blood -- taken from the shoulder of the road where Lopez landed after being thrown from the Jeep – was destroyed and not sent to be analyzed.

The trooper also said Highway Patrol officers are not trained to take fingerprints from wreck scenes or later from impound locations where wrecked vehicles are stored.

The state, however, obtained a resounding “Yes, sir!” from Assistant DA Gentry’s question, “Only one person was driving that Jeep and the only person who admitted driving is sitting right over there, isn’t that right?”

Parrish also agreed that DNA, fingerprints and blood samples wouldn’t show who was driving the Jeep.

Lopez testifies

The defendant took the stand Thursday afternoon after Dorman called Sheriff’s Detective Mack Brazelle to the stand to explain to the jury the importance of fingerprints, and how they’re obtained and analyzed. No fingerprints were part of the evidence presented by the state.

Lopez, speaking through court interpreter Teresa Goldston, told the jury that he’s been in the United States 14 years and was living in the Ash community between Whiteville and Shallotte before moving to Nakina nearly 42 months ago.

Lopez was working for a landscape contractor in Myrtle Beach, S.C., at the time of the crash, and he noted he had a green work permit. He said he is married and has one child.

Lopez said the only thing he could remember about Dec. 19, 2004 was that he was working on an old pickup truck at his home along Big Cypress Road during some period of that day.

Lopez said he was drinking beer that day and replied, “Two,” when asked how many he drank. His blood-alcohol level was 0.12 four hours after the fatal crash and it was estimated by state experts to be at least 0.18 at the time of the collision.

He said he had three brothers in this country, and one, Victor, still lives in Ash. Lopez said his brother said that he was with the defendant that night. Lopez said he was on the passenger side of the Jeep, based on what his brother told him.

Lopez said the first thing he remembered after the crash was being in jail. He said he didn’t remember anything about the hospital and noticed his injuries in a mirror and that he had a lot of pain.

The defendant said he still has pain and when he is given medication to make him sleep the pain goes away. He said he now has trouble reading and writing. His letters to his wife are difficult because sometimes he forgets how to express himself.

Attorneys address jury

On cross examination Lopez told the jury he didn’t deny any statements made to Highway Patrol troopers or other people, because he didn’t remember. He said he worked in tobacco and did general farm work before moving to Columbus County.

Dorman argued to the jury at the close of evidence that there was no physical evidence that Lopez was driving the Jeep. He noted it was frustrating for a defense attorney when his client couldn’t remember any details.

“If you believe the science about blood-alcohol levels, then you’ve got to believe the science that airbags don’t cause the types of injuries like Mr. Lopez’s. He went through the windshield because he wasn’t driving,” the attorney said.

Dorman also noted that all of Lopez’s statements about being the driver came after his head injury.

Gentry, in his argument, admitted mistakes were made, but pointed out troopers are just normal people, but there was no mistake about who was driving the Jeep.

“He took away everything Natalie Housand was --- girlfriend, daughter, sister. And, he took away everything she could be – wife, mother,” Gentry said as he ended his presentation.