Farries trial: Witness can't forget face of man dragged to his death

• EDITORS NOTE: This report includes sensitive details from testimony in the trial of Detra Farries that may be difficult for some readers.

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His military ID card lay at the curbside.

Down the road were business cards, boots and a tattered jacket.

Prosecutors at Detra Farries’ trial displayed those items Monday while a jury heard how Allen Lew Rose’s personal belongings marked the roads where he was dragged to his death Feb. 23 after trying to tow an SUV.

The evidence technician who collected the items also showed photos of the blood trail — faint at first but getting wider as it went.

Rose, an Iraq War veteran, came loose 1.5 miles from Hill Park Apartments on North Murray Boulevard, where he was snagged around the ankles by a severed tow cable when Farries allegedly drove away to avoid a $70 tow fee. The defense says Rose put himself in danger, and Farries didn’t know he was being dragged.

She’s charged with three felonies and faces up to 24 years in prison on the most serious of them — leaving the scene of a deadly accident.

Other prosecution witnesses on Monday testified that they saw people running after Farries, 33, as she left the parking lot — and how Rose, 35, struggled on his back to grab the cable in an effort to free himself.

“I’ll never forget that face,” said Linda Stevenson, who said she braked hard to avoid hitting Farries as the sport utility vehicle came “barreling” out of the apartment complex. As she glanced over, she said, Rose looked at her, screaming for help.

Prosecutors showed a brief video of Rose being dragged outside the 7-Eleven, where a trio of employees jumped in the car and took off in pursuit. After deciding it wasn’t a prank, Carolina Rubalcava said she directed her cousin to follow the blood.

An apartment manager’s testimony led to the first big confrontation of the trial, with lead defense attorney Eydie Elkins sharply questioning Reginald Lawson over his changing statements to police.

Lawson, who oversees leasing at Hill Park, testified Monday that he placed a white warning placard on Farries’ vehicle a day before the incident. Lawson said he called Rose’s J & J Towing after seeing the vehicle hadn’t been moved on the morning of Feb. 23. He told a jury he found bits of torn-up paper near the car – a common sight after warnings get posted at the complex, he later said.

But according to Farries’ defense, Lawson first told police no such warning was necessary, and none was given.

Later, Lawson changed his story and said he did affix a warning placard, but that he found no trace of it around Farries’ car the next day even though he made a point to look, according to a police report that Elkins cited.

Lawson, who said there was a lot on his mind that day, lashed out on the stand when Elkins began asking whether he collected on the towing company’s promise of a $10 fee for every tip that leads to a towing.

“Ten dollars don’t mean anything to me,” Lawson said angrily, saying his children live at the complex and he wants to keep it safe.

Lawson said there were a few times that a driver “put $10 or $20 in (his) hand” for calling in vehicles, but said he used the money to buy donuts for co-workers. Elkins said Lawson told police he had been involved in 50 to 80 such tow requests.

Lawson also testified the flat-bed on Rose’s truck was lowered and ready to tow the SUV. Photos from the scene, shown during the trial, seem to contradict that statement.

Also Monday, 4th Judicial District Judge Jann P. DuBois denied another defense motion over missing police DVDs. The discs showed a police detective’s video-recorded interviews with two eyewitnesses the defense calls the “crux” of their case.

Colorado Springs police detectives said the videos went missing last year and haven’t been found. The men have since changed key details in their testimony, but prosecutors say police reports accurately reflect their first impressions.

Before trial, DuBois granted the defense “wide latitude” to question the integrity of the police investigation.

Elkins said the missing discs had hampered her ability to show a jury the men’s “firmness” during the first interviews. The judge denied a request that prosecutors be barred from addressing one of the men’s criminal past.

Testimony is expected to continue Tuesday morning.