A jury will begin deliberations in the case of a Santa Ynez Valley man charged with driving drunk and causing a 2012 crash that critically injured a local teacher who later died.
Closing arguments began Wednesday morning and finished in the afternoon in the Santa Barbara County Superior Court trial of 39-year-old Benjamin Bettencourt.
He is charged with driving under the influence of alcohol causing injury, driving with a blood-alcohol level of 0.08 percent or higher, and enhancements for causing great bodily injury. The jury also was given lesser charges to consider.
Bettencourt, a paraplegic due to a prior crash in which a girl died, was driving a specially equipped van when it veered off Highway 246 between Buellton and Solvang, striking a tree and critically injuring his passenger, Jennifer Clark, 39, of Los Olivos. Clark died a few days later. She had worked as an adaptive physical education teacher in the Santa Ynez Valley and coached volleyball.
Bettencourt’s defense involved “smoke and mirrors” to distract the jury from the facts of the case, Senior Deputy District Attorney Kevin Duffy said.
“Smoke and mirrors — that’s all the defendant has is smoke and mirrors,” he said.
Defense attorney Darryl Genis spent the bulk of the closing argument launching personal attacks at the victim, prosecutor, lab technicians and investigators, Duffy said.
“The attacks were relentless, not just in closing but throughout the trial,” Duffy said, noting Genis accused one witness of lying because she blinked.
Breathalyzer tests showed Bettencourt’s blood-alcohol content of 0.126 or 0.129 more than 20 minutes after the accident while results of blood analysis placed it as 0.88 at 96 minutes following the crash.
Genis has maintained that several errors occurred throughout the arrest and investigation of Bettencourt, and he challenged the results and legitimacy of field sobriety tests, breath tests and blood tests.
“Mr. Bettencourt is innocent and wrongfully accused,” Genis argued, calling it a simple case yet a tragic case.
Among defense allegations is that a Department of Justice employee, who reportedly was fired for contaminating evidence, mishandled the blood sample and that the worker who later retested it used material prepped by the fired employee.
Genis also contended the prosecutor failed to give him a video before the trial began, as required by law, and he argued that the lead California Highway Patrol officer made several missteps the night of the crash.
Clark’s blood-alcohol level measured 0.20 percent, showing she was “extremely intoxicated,” according to Genis.
“These accidents happen like that,” Genis said, snapping his fingers. “The accident happened in the blink of an eye.”
Genis argued that Clark actually was the legal driver from the moment she allegedly touched the steering wheel.
“You can’t hold Ben responsible for the van leaving the road when it was Jennifer who caused the van to leave the road … ,” Genis said. “It’s tragic, but it’s not a crime — not for Ben.”
But in recorded jail calls and conversations with friends after his arrest, Duffy said, Bettencourt gave as many as eight scenarios for why the van crashed into a tree, such as blaming the victim for distracting him and grabbing the steering wheel. Duffy dubbed these “a web of lies.”
Duffy said Bettencourt neglected his role as designated driver and did not exhibit the care of a sober person.
The prosecutor contended the defendant lied about how much alcohol he had the day of the crash. Bettencourt initially said it was just one drink at a golf course in the afternoon, however, witnesses claimed he imbibed alcohol at two other establishments into the evening, Duffy said.
Duffy said he didn’t have to prove what Bettencourt drank or when he consumed it, contending the blood test proved the defendant had 5.88 drinks in his system 96 minutes after the crash.
“He lied about many things in this case and the most significant was the fact that he lied about his drinking pattern,” Duffy said.
Paramedics at the scene of the crash testified they noted that Bettencourt smelled of alcohol and exhibited uncoordinated mannerisms, Duffy said.
While Bettencourt told officers after the crash that he was en route to take Clark home, those who saw them the night of the crash claimed they were on the way to another bar.
While Genis mentioned diabetes might have led to incorrect blood tests, Duffy said no one testified that the defendant’s blood sugar was extremely high following the crash or otherwise provided evidence that Bettencourt is required to use insulin.
Earlier in the day, Genis argued that prosecutorial misconduct occurred because Duffy showed an exhibit photo of a sticker that said “The best things in life are dangerous,” shown on the dashboard of Bettencourt’s van.
Judge Rogelio Flores said the way Duffy presented the picture was more prejudicial than probative and said he would tell the jury to ignore the sticker.
As Genis tried to continue arguing, Flores said, “And, I’m done.”
The trial started in early February and was originally expected to wrap up March 17. But legal battles and verbal spats between the attorneys helped extend the length as Flores repeatedly told the men to “stop” or “move on.”
After one battle, the judge threatened to toss both men into the same jail cell if they didn’t behave.
— Noozhawk North County editor Janene Scully can be reached at jscully@noozhawk.com. Follow Noozhawk on Twitter: @noozhawk, @NoozhawkNews and @NoozhawkBiz. Connect with Noozhawk on Facebook.