LONGVIEW — A 33-year-old Kelso man, charged with vehicular homicide last summer, is scheduled to appear for a readiness hearing early next year to check if both parties are going to trial.
Kelso police arrested Charles Eli Stapleton in June in Kelso after police say Stapleton’s 2000 Dodge Dakota truck smashed into a 2017 Subaru WRX, whose diver’s injuries were severe enough that he died at the scene.
Stapleton, who has no prior convictions, is charged with being impaired by drugs or alcohol during the crash. Court documents from a forensic engineering company say Stapleton wasn’t as impaired as police say. He is still in Cowlitz County Jail with bail set at $750,000.
Court records
Thomas R. Fries, president of Forensic & Mechanical Engineering in Portland, writes in a court affidavit that Stapleton’s driving actions were “not consistent with initial police reports preliminary breath test which revealed a reading of 0.231.”
A blood alcohol level of 0.20 could cause a person’s standing or walking to be impaired or even blackout Fries writes, but Stapleton allegedly reacted quicker than a person in that condition.
Fries writes that an Engine Control Unit analyst report shows Stapleton was traveling north on Pacific Avenue, and the victim was at a stop sign on Barnes Street. The victim attempted to make a left turn from Barnes Street onto North Pacific when the Dodge struck the driver’s side of his Subaru.
The report says accounting for the weight of the Dodge truck, Stapleton was going about 10 to 20 mph pre-crash and that the impact speed was 31 to 45 mph.
Fries writes that the Dodge began breaking 52 feet before the crash and “using a reaction time of 1.25 seconds the driver (Mr. Stapleton) began reacting 1.95 seconds and 154 feet impact.”
The 2000 Dodge Dakota truck Stapleton was operating had airbags. Fries writes that Stapleton “most likely” sustained some impact to his head from the airbags, and the result could have caused some “momentary unconsciousness and/or retrograde amnesia.”
A police report, however, says a Washington State Trooper said Stapleton showed “signs of impairment on the walk and turn and one leg stand test,” before his June 21, 2021 arrest. According to Fries, the signs of impairment could be a result of the impact Stapleton received to his head from the airbags going off. Fries reports people involved in such crashes don’t realize what they’re saying.
The police report also says the trooper performed a field sobriety test on the suspect and told a Kelso officer he “observed six of six clues on the horizontal gaze nystagmus test,” or what is known as the “follow-my-finger test.”
According to the probable cause statement, written by the Kelso Police Officer Austin T. Foley, Stapleton’s eyes “were bloodshot and watery,” and he smelled the odor of alcohol when he was arrested.
Foley also wrote he asked Stapleton if he had any drinks that night, and according to the officer, Stapleton said he had two beers about six hours before the crash.
Stapleton is expected to appear in Cowlitz County Court on Jan. 3, 2023, for a readiness hearing to determine if a jury trial will commence the following week.
