Evidence processes and procedures led off the second day of testimony in the murder trial of Devawn Mitchell on Tuesday.
Shortly after testimony resumed, two prosecution experts detailed the official testing process for alcohol and illegal drugs, with experts saying they found neither alcohol nor drugs in Mitchell’s system after the March 18 wreck that killed Steve Henry.
After that, testimony focused on Henry’s medical care immediately after the crash before returning to the incidents surrounding the fatal wreck. Highway Patrol Trooper JD Phillips says he was coming to Emporia when police officers started and then ended a pursuit with Mitchell, only to find Mitchell’s car again and start a second chase. Phillips says he got off West Sixth, got out of his cruiser and tried to put down stop sticks — a process that can take up to 90 seconds — but Mitchell was allegedly moving too fast for him to get the stop sticks in place.
Phillips says he was putting the stop sticks back into his vehicle when he heard Mitchell’s car hit Henry’s pickup truck.
The bench trial before Lyon County Judge Lee Fowler is set to last all week. Mitchell is accused of first-degree felony murder, felony flee and elude and interference with law enforcement after Henry was killed in a traffic crash on West Sixth between Chestnut and Lawrence.
