Opening arguments were delivered Friday in the case of a man facing one misdemeanor count of vehicular manslaughter after he allegedly ran down and fatally injured an elderly pedestrian in a downtown Santa Barbara crosswalk last year.
Judge James Herman is presiding over the trial of Lawrence Forgione, who is accused of driving a small SUV in the 500 block of State Street before 7 p.m. on Feb. 24, 2018, and running a red light at a midblock crosswalk as Gilbert William Ramirez, 90, of Santa Barbara was crossing the street.
Forgione allegedly “barreled through the crosswalk — never breaking and never slowing,” a prosecuting attorney told Santa Barbara County Superior Court jurors Friday morning during brief statements.
Deputy District Attorney Sarah Barkley said “pedestrians rushed to help” Ramirez.
The incident took place along State Street between Haley and Cota streets, she said.
Ramirez was crossing east to west in a midblock crosswalk when he was struck, Barkley said, “sending his body flying into the air.”
She told the jury that “during the course of this trial, you will hear that Mr. Ramirez was walking down State Street when he pushed the midblock crosswalk signal and waited for the crosswalk to change. He stood. The light turned yellow. The light turned red. Traffic was supposed to stop at that moment so Mr. Ramirez could safely cross to the other side of State Street.”
Ramirez waited “a moment and entered the crosswalk,” Barkley said.
He landed in the street nearby, and Forgione pulled his vehicle to the side of State Street and remained at the scene after the collision.
Firefighters and paramedics responded, and Ramirez was transported by AMR ambulance to Santa Barbara Cottage Hospital, where he “died later that night of the injuries that he sustained when he was struck by the defendant’s vehicle,” Barkley said.
Throughout the course of the trial, Barkley said, jurors will hear from the police officers who found Ramirez critically injured. Police immediately conducted an investigation.
Jurors also will watch surveillance footage that appears to capture the moments before and after the collision.
“You will see the light turn from green to yellow to red,” she said, adding, “You will see the moment of impact. The moment the defendant failed to stop at a red light.”
A woman, who was waiting on the street to cross “just next to” Ramirez before he was struck, will testify, Barkley said.
After hearing all the evidence in the case, Barkley told the jurors that she is “confident that you will render a verdict of guilty in this matter.”
Forgione, a chef and a culinary icon in the 1970s and ’80s, sat quietly beside his lawyer as the prosecutor made her opening statements.
Defense attorney Meghan Behrens asked the jurors to return a verdict of not guilty at the end of the trial.
“Mr. Forgione was not a distracted driver,” Behrens said. “Mr. Forgione will testify he drove up State Street and through the crosswalk because he had a green light.”
Two “independent witnesses” also will confirm that Forgione had a green light, she said.
A woman, who was eating dinner on an outside patio adjacent to the midblock crosswalk, heard “a loud bang, looked up and saw the traffic on State Street was green,” Behrens said. Another woman was seated on the same patio and witnessed the collision. She will testify seeing “the vehicle traffic on State Street had a green light,” Behrens said.
This witness will testify that Ramirez “slightly” stumbled off the curb and onto the street, Behrens said.
Ramirez’s son, Armando, will testify about his father’s “typical Saturday night,” Behrens said, adding, “He enjoyed going to different bars on State Street, and perhaps dancing.”
Ramirez was an avid dancer who frequented downtown bars.
Armando’s testimony will mention that his father had a GPS tracker on his vehicle, Behrens told jurors.
“The family had put the GPS tracker on the car because they were concerned in case he went missing or they couldn’t find him … that he was lost because they were concerned about his age,” she said.
Behrens addressed the surveillance video from cameras outside Baja Sharkeez.
“The video doesn’t show what Mr. Forgione saw,” Behrens said. “The video is from a different point of view … you will not see a video showing the traffic light that Mr. Forgione saw.”
Behrens added, “You will not hear one prosecution or defense witness testify that he (Forgione) barreled through the light.”
The prosecution’s witness — the coroner’s personnel — will testify the cause was “multiple traumatic injuries,” Behrens said, adding that Ramirez’s death was ruled “accidental.”
The first witnesses began testifying late Friday morning.
The lights inside the second-floor courtroom dimmed to display the surveillance video.
Santa Barbara police Sgt. Ethan Ragsdale, who was a traffic collision investigator at the time of the incident, testified about responding to the 500 block of State Street on Feb. 24, 2018, and the signal lights.
He said downtown State Street’s traffic light system was “functioning properly,” adding, “When we arrive on the scene, especially in these types of serious traffic collision investigations, one thing we look for and watch is the traffic signal light function.”
Ragsdale, a 13-year SBPD veteran, said Ramirez was “lawfully crossing the street.”
Jurors were expected to hear more testimony.
— Noozhawk staff writer Brooke Holland can be reached at bholland@noozhawk.com. Follow Noozhawk on Twitter: @noozhawk, @NoozhawkNews and @NoozhawkBiz. Connect with Noozhawk on Facebook.
