Prosecutors take aim at detectives in dragging-death trial

Editor’s note: This report includes details from trial testimony that my be disturbing to readers.

Prosecutors in Detra Farries’ trial on Wednesday took aim at two Colorado Springs police detectives who told the jury other investigators ignored their appeals to re-create a tow-truck driver’s dragging death.

Lead prosecutor Jeff Lindsey characterized the pair as complainers in front of the jury — asking a police witness if he remembered them “stomping their feet and saying, ‘We’re testing. We’re testing.’”

“Actually, I don’t have any recollection that they did that — at any point in time,” replied Colorado Springs police Commander Mark Smith.

Prosecutors sought to reverse potential damage from the officers’ testimony during their rebuttal to the defense’s case, which concluded Tuesday. Closing arguments are expected to be heard Thursday. Then the case goes to the jury.

The detectives — Phil Tollefson and Dan Smoker — specialize in crash reconstructions and work in the major accident unit, which normally handles fatal hit-and-runs in Colorado Springs, such as the death of tow-truck driver Allen Lew Rose.

Responding to a question during his testimony on Tuesday, Tollefson agreed the unit was “kicked off” the investigation after pushing for the testing.

After learning the detectives had concerns about the investigation, Smith said he approached them and told them that while their suggestions were welcome, they wouldn’t always be acted upon.

“I encouraged them to be involved,” said Smith, who supervised the homicide detectives who ultimately investigated Rose’s Feb. 23, 2011, dragging-death.

Earlier, while fighting a defense motion outside the presence of the jury, Lindsey called the detectives “so-called experts” and told 4th Judicial District Judge Jann P. DuBois their statements caught him by surprise.

Smoker and Tollefson testified they did not believe the police investigation would be complete without learning how an object of similar weight and size to Rose would behave behind a sport-utility vehicle capable of towing more than 6,000 pounds.

They said a re-creation would be the only way of addressing Farries’ claims that she couldn’t see Rose behind her SUV, which had damaged side view mirrors and was pack full of belongings that blocked her view.

Instead, police relied on a “static test” in which Tollefson lay down behind the stopped SUV at the end of a 50-foot rope while another detective looked for him in the side-view mirrors.

The person in the driver’s seat for the test had a “clear view” of Tollefson at some locations and recognized “a blob” at another point.

Smith told the jury that other investigators decided it would be too difficult to reproduce conditions of that day, such as lighting, road conditions, traffic and the effect of a person struggling on the cable — leaving the value of an expensive test open to question.

On the stand, Tollefson had said Farries’ tow capacity would largely override any movement by Rose. Smoker disputed Lindsey’s suggestion that Rose could have altered his course by applying his boot soles to the road.

Both detectives were subpoenaed to testify for the defense, Farries’ public defender Eydie Elkins said in court Wednesday.

In other testimony, a Colorado Springs tow-truck driver told the jury it would be impossible to toss a tow hook onto a moving vehicle, as two eyewitnesses have said they saw Rose do.

“The only thing you’re going to catch is the ground,” said Robert Sanders of Randy’s High Country Towing, who put on gloves and repeatedly let the heavy J-hooks and their chain fall with a clatter onto the courtroom floor.

The eyewitnesses, Donald “Doc” Hearn and his nephew Christopher Dunlap, said in earlier testimony that the SUV began pulling away just as Rose stooped to attach the hooks.

Under cross-examination by public defender Jeremy Loew, Sanders said he would be able to reach the rear axle of a Suburban from a kneeling position, and could possibly reach it while standing and bending.

At one point, Loew demonstrated the bowling motion described by Dunlap and Hearn, and asked: “So you could go just like this, right?”

“Yes, sir,” Sanders answered.

While insisting that every tow is different and requires different methods, Sanders said he wouldn’t hook onto a moving vehicle or run after a vehicle with a cable flailing — which he did once in his 40-year-plus career, hoping to retrieve his property.

“I was on the ground before I could release it,” he said.

He added: “If that vehicle is even thinking about moving, I’m backing off.”

An expert witness for the prosecution will take the stand when court resumes Thursday. He is the final witness in the trial, which began Jan. 30 with jury selection. Farries is charged with 11 counts, including leaving the scene of a deadly accident, manslaughter and vehicular homicide.