A Hamilton County jury will continue deliberating this morning in an unusual vehicular homicide case in which prosecutors say the passenger of a sport utility vehicle is criminally responsible for causing a man’s death.
Bachar Martin, 27, testified in his own defense Wednesday, telling jurors he had no idea that his “former best friend” Jeremiah Mann was in no condition to drive home to Dayton, Tenn., after a day of drinking in Chattanooga.
“If I ever thought for one minute that he wasn’t OK to drive,” Mr. Martin said, “I wouldn’t have let him.”
Mr. Mann, also 27, pleaded guilty to driving the Lincoln Navigator that struck another car and killed Dwight Brooks in 2004, but prosecutors say Mr. Martin also is criminally responsible because he owned the vehicle and allowed Mr. Mann to drive it while intoxicated.
Mr. Martin is charged with vehicular homicide by driver intoxication and DUI by consent. Like Mr. Mann, who will be sentenced after this trial, he could receive up to 12 years in prison if convicted.
But other witnesses Wednesday corroborated Mr. Martin’s assertion that he did not know Mr. Mann was drunk when they traded places behind the wheel.
“(Mr. Mann) said many times that he had not had anything to drink at Hooters, and there was no way he could be drunk,” said Mr. Martin’s grandmother, Mary Ellen Martin. “He said ‘I just got sleepy.’”
The grandmother and Mr. Martin’s girlfriend, Sarah Chapman, both testified that Mr. Mann told them how Mr. Martin had suggested alternatives to driving home that night.
“He said Bachar offered to call his grandma, sleep it off or get a hotel,” Ms. Chapman said.
During his testimony Tuesday, Mr. Mann described Mr. Martin as “highly intoxicated” that evening, telling the jury he was the one who told Mr. Martin he shouldn’t be driving. Mr. Mann corrected himself on cross-examination, though, when he said Mr. Martin told him to take over.
“He changed his story,” defense attorney Bill Pope said during his closing arguments. “Mr. Mann wants to shift the blame to Mr. Martin, but it doesn’t fit the proof.”
