Jurors in a vehicular homicide trial on Thursday determined the driver accused of causing the deadly 2015 crash on state Highway 503 had disregarded the safety of others on the road. However, they did not find that he was driving recklessly at the time.
The jury returned the verdict in Dean Imokawa’s case after deliberating for nearly four hours. They ultimately found him guilty of vehicular homicide and vehicular assault caused by disregarding the safety of others — the least serious level of the crime. But the jury acquitted him of a charge of reckless driving and could not agree on whether recklessness played a role in the other convictions.
Imokawa, who’s been out on supervised release, will be sentenced Feb. 8, at which time he will be taken into custody.
Senior Deputy Prosecutor Kasey Vu said that Imokawa may be facing a sentencing range of 26 to 36 months in prison.
The crash, which occurred April 2, 2015, resulted in the death of 86-year-old Eleanor Tapani of Battle Ground. She died the following day from multiple blunt-force injuries, according to a probable cause affidavit.
Imokawa was driving north on the highway in a 2006 GMC pickup shortly after 9:30 a.m. when he attempted to pass a Land Rover he was traveling behind in the left lane. He used the right lane to pass the vehicle and then merged back into the left lane on the Salmon Creek bridge. His pickup struck the front right corner of the Land Rover, however, and both vehicles lost control, crossed the median and entered the southbound lanes. A southbound Kia Sorento, in which Tapani was the passenger, struck Imokawa’s pickup.
The driver of the Kia, Linda Dallum of Battle Ground, suffered multiple fractured ribs and fractures to her right ankle, foot and kneecap in the crash. She, Tapani and Imokawa were all transported to PeaceHealth Southwest Medical Center for treatment. The driver of the Land Rover, Nicholas Grier of Battle Ground, was not injured.
Vu said during the trial that Dallum was in a wheelchair for six months after the crash.
Data from Imokawa’s pickup recorded his speed at 68 mph prior to the crash. The posted speed limit in that area is 55 mph, court records state.
Witnesses said that Imokawa had used the right lane to pass another motorist before the collision and was following too closely behind the Land Rover. Some witnesses said it did not appear Imokawa had enough room to make a successful lane change in front of Grier, Vu told the jury.
Imokawa’s defense attorney, Steve Thayer, said his client plans to appeal the convictions.
“We will appeal on grounds the jury should have been unambiguously instructed that the state has the burden of proving the absence of superceding cause,” Thayer said in a written statement. He contends that the crash would have never happened if the driver of the Land Rover hadn’t sped up and hit Imokawa’s vehicle, creating the chain of events that lead to the deadly collision.
During closing arguments Thursday morning, Thayer told the jury that every motorist has exceeded the speed limit, run a stop sign or bumped the curb while parallel parking.
“We’ve all made mistakes. That makes us human not criminals,” he said. “The fact that there were tragic consequences (in this case) doesn’t make it any less of an accident.”
He used Seattle Seahawks Russell Wilson and his intercepted pass during last year’s Super Bowl game as a comparison. Wilson intended to throw the ball but didn’t intend for it to be intercepted, he said.
“He misjudged it, like (Imokawa) misjudged how much room there was to merge. It was a miscalculation, not a crime,” Thayer said. He added that most traffic crashes are resolved in civil court.
And he went on to argue that the driver of the Land Rover actually caused the crash when he sped up, closing the gap for Imokawa to merge and striking the pickup. He said the data from the Land Rover to prove that couldn’t be recovered, and that the prosecution’s entire case hinged on the driver’s word.
Vu argued that Imokawa’s “poor judgment” resulted in the tragic consequences.
“He wanted to pass everyone on the road, and his expectation was that they would get out of his way, regardless,” he said, adding that the crash was not an accident. He said Imokawa willfully chose to drive recklessly or disregard the safety of others.
The Land Rover was going with the flow of traffic, Vu said, and there was at least one other vehicle in front of it. Imokawa did not have sufficient room to merge in front of the Land Rover, he said.
“His attitude, his perception, his belief is that other people on the road need to accommodate what he wants to do,” Vu said. “That is unreasonable. It is not the duty of the other drivers on the road to look out for us. Is it nice? Absolutely. But it’s not their duty.”
