Jury hears opening statements in snowmobile case
By Nick Hytrek Journal staff writer | Posted: Wednesday, June 27, 2007
From his seat on the witness stand, Darwin Phillips stared straight ahead as he recalled the shattered snowmobile helmets and pieces of plastic from the battered machines.
Boots and gloves were scattered about the gravel road running past his family's rural Pierson, Iowa, home. Four young bodies -- two of them his daughters -- lay in the road.
"It was just like a bomb went off," Phillips said.
The four girls' helmets had been knocked off during the impact with the pickup truck that had just struck the two snowmobiles driven by Phillips' daughters, Andrea, 13, and Kallie, 10.
"Kallie's eyes were rolled back in her head. She had a hole in the side of her head," Phillips said in a steady voice.
Daniel Bouc, the pickup's driver, didn't seem shaken at all, Phillips said. Bouc didn't offer to help, instead walking back to his vehicle after speaking briefly with Phillips.
"I said, 'Oh my God. How fast were you going?'" Phillips testified Tuesday.
"And what did he say?" Phillips' attorney, Curt Krull, asked.
"'Oh, 55 or 60 (mph),'" Phillips answered.
A panel of four men and four women will spend much of the next two weeks in Woodbury County District Court determining whether Bouc was negligent and responsible for the Dec. 12, 2003, accident that killed the Phillips' daughters and their passengers, Lauren Herbold, 11, and Kylie Koch, 10.
Phillips and his wife, Jacklyn, have sued Bouc and seek an unspecified amount of damages on behalf of their daughters' estates. Also named in the suit is Bouc's father, Fred, who owned the pickup.
The Boucs deny that Daniel, who was 16 at the time, was negligent. They claim that the collision was the girls' fault because they were driving across the road.
"They knew the No. 1 rule in the Phillips household was no driving on the road," the Boucs' attorney, Alan Fredregill, said in his opening statements.
Bouc, also of Pierson, struck the girls just after cresting a hill on Lenox Avenue about 4:30 in the afternoon. The girls were hidden from view by a grove of trees and a terrace in a field until the instant they entered the road, Fredregill said.
"This case is about two seconds. Two seconds was about what Daniel Bouc had to perceive, react and avoid two snowmobiles that were out on a road where they were not supposed to be."
An Iowa State Patrol investigation determined the accident was unavoidable and that Bouc was traveling an estimated 30 mph at the time of the collision. Criminal charges never were filed.
Kimberly Rodgers Smith, who also represents the Phillipses, said during opening statements that experts hired by the Phillips family are the only ones who did key testing that determined Bouc was driving too fast.
"He was going so fast that he didn't have time to react to the girls on the road," Rodgers Smith said.
Riding snowmobiles was a Phillips family hobby. Each year, the family traveled to South Dakota to ride snowmobiles in the Black Hills. Darwin Phillips bought his girls a miniature snowmobile to drive until they were old enough to drive larger snowmobiles.
"They were very experienced riders for their age," Phillips said.
Phillips said he didn't know why the girls would have been in the road. The snow on the opposite ditch was too tall for them to climb, so they would have had no reason to cross the road and drive in the next field.
Phillips will continue his testimony when the trial resumes today.
Nick Hytrek can be reached at 712-293-4226 or nickhytrek@siouxcityjournal.com.
Boots and gloves were scattered about the gravel road running past his family's rural Pierson, Iowa, home. Four young bodies -- two of them his daughters -- lay in the road.
"It was just like a bomb went off," Phillips said.
The four girls' helmets had been knocked off during the impact with the pickup truck that had just struck the two snowmobiles driven by Phillips' daughters, Andrea, 13, and Kallie, 10.
"Kallie's eyes were rolled back in her head. She had a hole in the side of her head," Phillips said in a steady voice.
Daniel Bouc, the pickup's driver, didn't seem shaken at all, Phillips said. Bouc didn't offer to help, instead walking back to his vehicle after speaking briefly with Phillips.
"I said, 'Oh my God. How fast were you going?'" Phillips testified Tuesday.
"And what did he say?" Phillips' attorney, Curt Krull, asked.
"'Oh, 55 or 60 (mph),'" Phillips answered.
A panel of four men and four women will spend much of the next two weeks in Woodbury County District Court determining whether Bouc was negligent and responsible for the Dec. 12, 2003, accident that killed the Phillips' daughters and their passengers, Lauren Herbold, 11, and Kylie Koch, 10.
Phillips and his wife, Jacklyn, have sued Bouc and seek an unspecified amount of damages on behalf of their daughters' estates. Also named in the suit is Bouc's father, Fred, who owned the pickup.
The Boucs deny that Daniel, who was 16 at the time, was negligent. They claim that the collision was the girls' fault because they were driving across the road.
"They knew the No. 1 rule in the Phillips household was no driving on the road," the Boucs' attorney, Alan Fredregill, said in his opening statements.
Bouc, also of Pierson, struck the girls just after cresting a hill on Lenox Avenue about 4:30 in the afternoon. The girls were hidden from view by a grove of trees and a terrace in a field until the instant they entered the road, Fredregill said.
"This case is about two seconds. Two seconds was about what Daniel Bouc had to perceive, react and avoid two snowmobiles that were out on a road where they were not supposed to be."
An Iowa State Patrol investigation determined the accident was unavoidable and that Bouc was traveling an estimated 30 mph at the time of the collision. Criminal charges never were filed.
Kimberly Rodgers Smith, who also represents the Phillipses, said during opening statements that experts hired by the Phillips family are the only ones who did key testing that determined Bouc was driving too fast.
"He was going so fast that he didn't have time to react to the girls on the road," Rodgers Smith said.
Riding snowmobiles was a Phillips family hobby. Each year, the family traveled to South Dakota to ride snowmobiles in the Black Hills. Darwin Phillips bought his girls a miniature snowmobile to drive until they were old enough to drive larger snowmobiles.
"They were very experienced riders for their age," Phillips said.
Phillips said he didn't know why the girls would have been in the road. The snow on the opposite ditch was too tall for them to climb, so they would have had no reason to cross the road and drive in the next field.
Phillips will continue his testimony when the trial resumes today.
Nick Hytrek can be reached at 712-293-4226 or nickhytrek@siouxcityjournal.com.
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me wrote on Jul 13, 2007 10:34 AM:
Insider wrote on Jul 12, 2007 12:01 AM:
Kingsley friend wrote on Jul 6, 2007 2:03 PM:
Philips family own up to it. wrote on Jul 3, 2007 5:16 AM:
area resident wrote on Jul 2, 2007 9:14 AM: