Is a Vancouver man who is charged in a hit-and-run crash responsible for a subsequent wreck that led to the death of a Samaritan? This is what jurors will decide over the coming days as the trial for Joshua C. Frahm unfolds in Clark County Superior Court.
Frahm, 29, is facing charges of vehicular homicide, first-degree manslaughter, vehicular assault, hit-and-run, false reporting and conspiracy to commit first-degree perjury stemming from the Dec. 7, 2014, crash on Interstate 205 and subsequent death of Richard G. Irvine of Camas.
Irvine, 63, died Dec. 19, 2014, from injuries he sustained when he stopped on the freeway to help the victim of the hit-and-run crash. Irvine was struck when another vehicle smashed into the disabled vehicle he was assisting.
In opening statements Tuesday, Senior Deputy Prosecutor Kasey Vu laid out his version of events.
He said Frahm was driving a Ford F-150 pickup north on the interstate near Burton Road just before 6 a.m. when he rear-ended a northbound Honda CRV and neither stopped nor reported the collision. The impact sent the small SUV across all northbound lanes. It crashed into the highway’s center concrete median and stopped in the left northbound lane.
Irvine also was driving north and saw the collision. He pulled his vehicle onto the right shoulder, ran to the CRV and called 911. While he was on the phone with dispatchers, a northbound Honda Odyssey minivan struck the passenger side of the CRV and pushed it into Irvine.
He suffered serious injuries and later died at a local hospital. The CRV’s driver, Steven M. Klase of Battle Ground, suffered a broken leg and fractured spine.
The driver of the minivan, Fredy Delacruz-Moreno of Seattle, is not facing any charges in the crash, and will testify during Frahm’s trial, Vu said.
Frahm had reported his pickup stolen on the afternoon after the crash, but police located it the same day and later determined he was the driver involved in the hit-and-run. Frahm denied any involvement in the crash, and eventually revised his initial statements to say he was with another man who was willing to vouch for his whereabouts. Vu said Frahm and his alibi witness made up their story and lied to police.
Frahm had been out drinking all night, Vu said, and multiple witnesses reported seeing a white Ford F-150 pickup driving erratically on state Highway 14 and I-205 just before the crash. He argued that Frahm’s choices and conduct led to Irvine’s death.
“All of the evidence points in one direction,” Vu said. “He created (this) mess.”
Frahm’s defense attorney, Jeff Barrar of Vancouver Defenders, told the jury that Vu had “outlined a pretty bleak set of facts,” but said Vu’s version is not accurate. He urged the jury to look at each charge individually.
Barrar argued that Frahm is not responsible for everything that happened that day. Some of it was an accident, he said.
He said Irvine made the risky decision to cross the interstate to assist Klase, and Delacruz-Moreno should have been paying closer attention.
“He has to accept some responsibility for that,” Barrar said. “It was his negligence that led to (Irvine’s) death.”
Barrar also called into question the credibility of some of the state’s witnesses.
Frahm’s trial continues Wednesday. It is scheduled to last as long as two weeks.
