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Officials leave the Clark County Courthouse to travel Tuesday to the site of a deadly April highway accident in which Mitchell Dettloff is facing trial. From left are prosecutors Gary Booker and James Hartsell, District Judge Joseph Bonaventure and his law clerk, Michael Yohay. Photo by Gary Thompson.

Wednesday, March 06, 2002
Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal

MANSLAUGHTER TRIAL: Fatal crash described by witness

Golfer: Car pulled into truck's path

An April accident that killed three people occurred just moments after a car linked to Mitchell Dettloff pulled into the path of another vehicle, a witness said Tuesday.

Robert Beltran said he was playing golf at the Painted Desert Golf Course and had a good view of the April 22 crash that Dettloff is accused of causing on U.S. Highway 95.

Beltran said he saw a black vehicle later linked to Dettloff pull into the path of a white pickup driven by Jim Barton, moments before the crash in which Barton's wife, his son and another motorist were killed.

"I feel that the black car just came into his path," Beltran said.

Dettloff is charged with 11 felony counts, including involuntary manslaughter, reckless driving and leaving the scene of the accident.

Authorities say Dettloff was merging his car into the southbound lanes of U.S. 95 from Ann Road when it collided with Barton's southbound pickup.

The collision sent Barton's pickup across the highway median and into the northbound lanes. There, Barton's pickup slammed head-on into a northbound pickup driven by Brian Lee Cooper. Holly Barton, 33, Benjamin Barton, 8, and Cooper, 30, were killed in the crash.

Prosecutors say Dettloff sped away from the crash site.

Beltran said that on the day of the accident he was playing golf at Painted Desert, a portion of which is adjacent to the highway. Standing on the 13th tee, he heard a vehicle horn beeping several times, causing him to look toward the southbound lanes of the highway, Beltran said.

He said he saw Dettloff's vehicle and Barton's pickup truck headed toward one another. The two then collided.

"They basically merged together and ricocheted," Beltran said.

Clark County Chief Deputy District Attorney Gary Booker then asked Beltran if "the black car was encroaching on the white truck."

"Yes," Beltran responded.

At one point during his testimony, Beltran also said it appeared Barton was traveling too fast.

Earlier Tuesday, jurors in the trial that began Monday got a first-hand look at the accident scene. They were bused to the Ann Road on-ramp and twice driven over the route that Dettloff was driving at the time of the crash.

The jurors then were taken to the parking lot of the Santa Fe casino, where they got out and looked across the highway at the accident scene. Prosecutors, defense attorney Richard Wright and District Judge Joseph Bonaventure also went on the trip in a separate vehicle.

Dettloff, who is not in custody, rode in the passenger seat of a third vehicle, which was driven by defense attorney Karen Winckler.

After the trip was concluded, testimony resumed and witness Amber Amato said she saw Dettloff's vehicle "fishtailing" away from a stop light and making a left turn onto the Ann Road on-ramp. Amato said Dettloff may have been driving between 85 and 95 mph on the on-ramp prior to the crash.

"I couldn't exactly be sure," she said of the car's speed.

Off-duty Las Vegas paramedic Randall Marsh said he stopped his vehicle and tried to aid the victims moments after the deadly collision. He said Holly Barton and her son were breathing their last breaths.

Marsh then relayed an emotional account of an unidentified woman who tried to comfort Benjamin Barton.

"She was on her knees, cradling him," Marsh said.

"She kept saying 'He's going to be fine. He's going to be fine. I can feel him breathing. I can feel him breathing,' " Marsh said.

Marsh said he knew there was little hope for the boy. The veteran of nearly two decades of work in public safety said he and the other paramedics at the crash had never seen an accident scene so devastating.

"At least two of the three paramedics who (responded) went home immediately afterward because they were so distraught," he said.

Testimony in the trial is expected to resume this morning.