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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Videotape contradicts testimony from troopers

A state trooper’s car-mounted video recorder may have contributed to a Spokane County jury’s refusal Thursday to convict a reckless driver of deliberately attempting to run over another trooper.

The jury found Steven Allen Buck, 32, guilty of reckless driving in a drunken-driving stop that occurred early in the morning of Nov. 13, but acquitted him of second-degree assault.

The assault charge was a felony that would have sent Buck to prison, while reckless driving is a gross misdemeanor punishable by no more than a year in the county jail and a $5,000 fine.

Testimony indicated Trooper Bryant Blake was standing in the intersection of Maple and Indiana when, with Trooper Nick Gerard in pursuit, Buck skidded into the intersection. The troopers said Blake waved his flashlight and ordered Buck to stop, but Buck revved his engine and accelerated toward Blake, missing him by inches.

Assistant Public Defender Jeff Compton told jurors that the troopers were “busted” by their own evidence, a videotape that contradicted several parts of their testimony.

Deputy Prosecutor Larry Steinmetz faulted Compton for emphasizing only parts of the video, and argued that Buck was attempting to blame his actions on the troopers and even on his car.

Buck testified that he had just acquired the 1967 Chevelle he was driving, and was unfamiliar with the vehicle’s steering, drum brakes and “three-on-the-tree” gearshift.

Steinmetz, who is old enough to have grown up with such vehicles, scoffed at Buck’s testimony that he shifted the car’s manual transmission into reverse while it was moving forward.

That claim was reason enough to question Buck’s credibility, Steinmetz said.

Compton, on the other hand, likened the troopers’ claims to an episode of “The Twilight Zone.”

He said Gerard’s videotape showed a 22-second pursuit at speeds that seemed far below what Gerard said was “pushing 60, 65-plus miles per hour.” And there was precipitation where Gerard and Blake said there was none.

The tape later shows Buck deliberately lying down on the pavement, as ordered, not tumbling out of his car as Gerard testified, Compton told jurors.

Also, Compton said, the tape showed Gerard using a button on his belt to turn his video recorder microphone off and on while interviewing Buck’s passenger, 25-year-old Amber R. Shull. That’s what caused gaps in the audio, Compton argued, not technical problems as the troopers testified.

Shull told the officers on tape that she admonished Buck for nearly running over a police officer, and Gerard asked her, “Are you going to come to court and testify that you saw him try to run over my partner?” Instead, Shull suggested in the tape that Buck’s actions weren’t deliberate.

Buck was “under the influence really bad,” Shull said.

“…You know what alcohol does to people. He didn’t care.”

Without intent to injure Trooper Blake, there could be no assault, Compton reminded jurors.