As the trial for Aaron Duveau, 18, continues, Haverhill police officer Wayne Tracey testified today that the crash was “the worst he had ever seen in his law enforcement career.” Tracey was one of the first to respond to the scene on February 20, 2011 after, as authorities allege, Duveau drifted across the center line of a street and into oncoming traffic, colliding with a car driven by a 55-year-old New Hampshire man. The man died several weeks later from severe brain trauma.
Tracey testified that Duveau, who was 17 at the time of the crash, also appeared tired and “a bit sluggish” at the scene. He is now being faced with violating a new state law which criminalizes texting behind the wheel of a car when an individual has been injured during a crash. According to Essex District Attorney Ashlee Logan, Duveau sent and received four text messages in the three-minute period leading up to the collision.
Thus far, his defense attorney has sought to draw jurors’ attention to the “timeline of events” that day.
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