Witness places Morse at scene of fatal crash

Jace Radke

Wednesday, Feb. 28, 2001 | 11:58 a.m.

A witness who prosecutors say can place Clark Morse at the scene of the accident that paralyzed Megabucks winner Cynthia Jay-Brennan and killed her sister, Lela Anne Jay, was scheduled to take the stand today. Chief Deputy District Attorney Gary Booker said Holly Sesock was out for a walk near the intersection of Boulder Highway and Indios Avenue on the night of March 11 and witnessed a Ford Explorer rear-end Jay-Brennan's Chevrolet Camaro, starting a chain reaction involving five cars.

She also saw Morse, 57, at the scene, Booker said.

Eight witnesses were called during the first day of the trial on Tuesday, including Clark County Medical Examiner Sheldon Green and seven people who were at the scene of accident but didn't see Morse there.

According to police reports, Morse rear-ended Jay-Brennan's car as she and her sister were stopped behind three other vehicles at a red light on Boulder Highway.

Jeffrey Casale, who was driving the first car stopped at the light, told the jury what he remembered about running back to check on the other drivers in the accident.

"I got back to the gray Camaro, and I only saw the driver," Casale said in District Judge Valorie Vega's courtroom Tuesday. "I tapped the window to see if she was all right. She was awake, but not real responsive. I don't know if she knew what was going on."

Jay-Brennan, 37, had suffered spinal cord injuries, and doctors say she is now at least paraplegic and possibly quadriplegic, Booker said.

Morse faces 13 charges, including two counts of driving under the influence causing death or serious bodily injury and one count of manslaughter. Morse could face as many as 143 years in prison if convicted on all charges, Deputy District Attorney Bruce Nelson said.

Blood tests taken a little more than two hours after the accident showed that Morse had a blood alcohol level of 0.184. The threshhold for determining drunken driving is 0.10.

Jay-Brennan, who won a $35 million Megabucks jackpot just weeks before the accident, is expected to testify near the end of the prosecution's case, most likely on Thursday or Friday.

Booker opened the trial by telling the nine-woman, five-man jury about the accident and the events that led up to Morse's arrest.

Metro officers went to the address where the Explorer was registered and found Clark Morse's mother, Vera Morse, Booker said.

Clark Morse's nephew, Brian Morse, a Metro Police officer, was called to the home by his aunt, Booker said.

Brian Morse, who was off duty at the time, went inside the residence and found Clark Morse in the back of the house, Booker said.

"He came out and flagged down the two investigating officers and told them that his Uncle Clark was in the house and that he thought he was involved in the accident," Booker said.

Booker also told the jury that a snap from a Western shirt was found in the Explorer, and it matched a missing snap from the shirt that Clark Morse was wearing when he was booked into the Clark County Detention Center. Also in the truck was a baseball hat with hair in it matching Morse's and papers belonging to Morse, Booker said.

Morse was wearing a red and black striped Western-style shirt and dark slacks as he sat in court Tuesday. Defense attorney Lew Brandon walked over to his client and slowly placed his hand to the left side of Morse's head and looked back at the jury as he began his opening statement.

"Clarkey is mentally retarded," Brandon said. "At best he has the mind of a third grade child. That is what we're dealing with here."

Brandon explained that Vera Morse has always called her son Clarkey, and that he has been what she calls, "a little slow" since he suffered a head injury in a car accident when he was a young boy.

"You guys are going to want to punish him, but I'm asking you to withhold your opinions until you hear all of the evidence," Brandon told the jury.

According to court records, Morse has been arrested at least 16 times on DUI charges and had finished two years of probation on a DUI charge two months before the crash.