When Rebecca Bernard witnessed a fatal traffic crash involving an Evans man and an off-duty Ault police officer, it changed her life.
The University of Northern Colorado student had been studying music. After that day — June 1, 2016 — she switched to pre-med. Bernard recalled that afternoon Monday during the first day of testimony in the trial of Blair Jackson, 48, who is the former Ault police officer involved in the crash. Jackson is charged with vehicular homicide in connection with the death of Esteban Moreno, the other driver in the crash. Prosecutors say Jackson caused the collision that killed Moreno.
“He was driving faster than everyone else,” said Weld Chief Deputy District Attorney Ben Whitney during opening arguments. “He was driving more aggressively. The crash is not the whole story. It is the last chapter in a story about a series of dangerous decisions made by the defendant. Maybe we don’t know what the spark was, but we do know how it ends. It ends with Moreno’s pickup halfway in a field leaving a path of debris behind.”
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