Attorney: ‘The car was floored’

Witnesses made some graphic and tearful testimonies Thursday during prosecutors’ first day of questioning in Jason Fredrickson’s criminal vehicular homicide trial in Mower County Court.

Fredrickson, 45, of Elkton, is the accused drunken driver in a February 2012 crash near Austin that killed 32-year-olds Jacob Moe and Luke Unverzagt of Austin.

Mower County assistant attorney Jeremy Clinefelter opened his argument Thursday by showing the jury evidence the Minnesota State Patrol gathered from the crash, and by trying to prove Fredrickson drove his wife’s 2009 Cadillac STS in a “grossly negligent manner” while over the legal limit of blood-alcohol content. Clinefelter said the state patrol removed the black box, a recording device, from the vehicle, which showed the accelerator was pushed to 100 percent capacity. The car was traveling 129 mph five seconds before the crash and before entering a curve with a 40 mph speed limit near Austin. From there, the car allegedly hit the ditch, went airborne, snapped a utility pole, hit and snapped a tree and stopped in a rural front yard on Fourth Street Southeast.

“Literally, the car was floored,” Clinefelter said.

Testimonies echoed earlier reports that the three men and their wives were at a bar in Lyle before returning to the Unverzagt home for more drinks. Sarah Unverzagt and Megan Moe said later, while they were in the house, all three men left in the Cadillac unannounced. They later found out about the accident and deaths of their husbands at the hospital.

None of the men wore seatbelts, and according to authorities, all three were ejected from the vehicle. Witnesses at the scene said Fredrickson lay hung up near the front passenger side of the car.

The investigation revealed one of Fredrickson’s shoes was underneath the driver’s pedals.

An Austin police officer, who responded first, testified it was the worst crash he had ever seen.

Attorneys Doug Hazelton and Eric Nelson — representing Fredrickson — have disputed a few details in the case. Nelson was attorney for Amy Senser, who was convicted in 2012 of criminal vehicular homicide after striking and killing a man with her car and leaving the scene of the accident. In Fredrickson’s case, the two attorneys have indicated it isn’t possible to prove who the driver was. Furthermore, Hazelton stated in his opening argument that investigators ignored evidence and “cherry-picked” other pieces of evidence.

One detail they disputed regards where Jacob Moe’s shoes were found at the scene. Megan Moe testified she picked up one shoe the next day because it felt like she’d have a piece of her husband. Moe reportedly had the shoe for months before an investigator retrieved it for evidence.

Another dispute involves Joel Solomonson, who served Fredrickson with a summons after one of the widows sued him for wrongful death. Solomonson alleges that Fredrickson inadvertently admitted to driving the Cadillac in the crash, but then backpedalled on his statement.

“He said that he was driving,” Solomonson said. “He paused, and he said, ‘Well, we really don’t know who was driving.’”

Solomonson, who was simply delivering the summons, said he later notified the attorney who wrote the civil suit.

“As I was driving away, that comment he made was really bugging me,” Solomonson said.

Nelson entered a lengthy cross examination, questioning the validity of Solomonson’s statements and how well he could have remembered those details, as Solomonson has delivered thousands of similar documents. The defense also questioned the integrity of Fredrickson’s blood draw, which was taken about 3.5 hours after the crash. A phlebotomist who drew the blood mentioned she wasn’t able to get a sample because of Fredrickson’s condition, and an IV could’ve further diluted the blood-alcohol content.

Greg Hartquist, Mower County deputy coroner, later testified about gruesome details at the scene, which often shook the gallery. He confirmed Unverzagt died at the scene, and Moe later died at the hospital.

Nine witnesses testified on Thursday, including police, deputies, the utility worker who called 911, and Sarah Unverzagt and Megan Moe. The trial resumes today with prosecutors calling more witnesses.