Ex-officer to stand trial for manslaughter in 2010 police chase

By Dave Toplikar

Monday, May 9, 2011 | 12:31 p.m.

A trial will begin next week for a former Metro Police officer accused of manslaughter in the death of a driver he was pursuing in a car chase almost a year ago through North Las Vegas streets.

And the defense attorney for Aron Carpenter, who served as a Metro officer for four years, indicated Carpenter's defense will be to try to sway a Clark County jury that the driver was suicidal after being thrown out by his girlfriend two days earlier.

Carpenter is one of two police officers who officials say ignored multiple orders from a sergeant to stop the chase after they were initially unable to pull the driver over for allegedly driving under the influence.

Police said Carpenter's vehicle collided with the suspect's Honda Civic on May 19, 2010, near the intersection of Lone Mountain Road and Lamb Boulevard in North Las Vegas, killing 27-year-old Ivan Carrillo.

Carpenter, who was fired from Metro in March after having been on unpaid administrative leave since the acccident, has been charged with felony reckless driving and misdemeanor vehicular manslaughter.

The other officer, Andrew Ubbens, pleaded no contest in January to a misdemeanor reckless driving charge and was fined $500 and ordered to perform 50 hours of community service. Ubbens, who was also on unpaid administrative leave, has been reinstated during a probationary period.

During a pre-trial hearing today, Chief Deputy District Attorney Lawrence O'Neale told the judge he expected Carpenter's trial to take about a week.

Judge Elissa Cadish set the jury selection to begin at 1 p.m. Monday. Cadish told attorneys she didn't expect testimony to get under way until Tuesday morning.

According to arrest reports, the two officers allegedly continued the car chase without using their emergency lights or sirens after the sergeant told them to stop the pursuit three times.

The sergeant told the officers to stop the pursuit because of public safety concerns. Because the Honda Civic possibly had been involved in a domestic violence situation earlier in the day, the sergeant decided police might instead be able to identify the suspect that way or by the vehicle's registration information.

Ubbens told Metro investigators that he unsuccessfully attempted a common police pursuit maneuver, called a PIT maneuver, that would disable the Civic, according to the arrest report. Instead, officials allege that the PIT maneuver didn't work and caused the suspect to only momentarily lose control.

Officials said Carpenter continued the pursuit once the suspect regained control and followed him to the intersection of Lamb Boulevard and Lone Mountain Road.

Carpenter and Carrillo's vehicles allegedly made contact, causing Carrillo to lose control of his Honda Civic and travel into oncoming traffic on Lamb Boulevard, where it was struck by a Ford Contour and caused a four-vehicle accident, according to the arrest report.

Carrillo and the driver of the Ford Contour were taken to University Medical Center, where Carrillo died a short time later, officials said. Police said a toxicology report later concluded that Carrillo had methamphetamine in his system, among other substances.

Investigators said Carpenter was driving about the same speed as Carrillo — 61 or 62 mph in a 45 mph zone — at the time of the collision, according to the arrest report.

At today's pre-trial hearing, Judge Cadish heard several motions, including one by Carpenter's attorney, Bret O. Whipple, to be able to introduce evidence to show Carrillo's state of mind during the car chase.

"Our theory is it was suicide, it was suicide," Whipple said.

Whipple said he believed that Carrillo crossed over two medians earlier during the chase in an attempt to commit suicide and that on the third time "he was successful."

Whipple said there was also "very strong evidence" from statements given to police regarding Carrillo's state of mind during the 13-minute police chase.

"So your theory is that Mr. Carrillo is the 100 percent cause of the accident that led to his death, as well as the injury to the other victim, " Cadish said.

Whipple said Carrillo's state of mind is relevant because "it shows he was trying to kill himself."

Whipple also said there was "absolutely no proof" that Carpenter's police car bumped into the back of Carrillo's car, sending it forward into the multi-vehicle crash.

"And if he did, it was because he veered from the lane he was in to the lane my client was in," Whipple said. "That's unprotested."

"That is not unprotested," O'Neale said.

Whipple said his defense would be that Carrillo was suicidal and "perhaps he wanted to take somebody with him. We don't know. But the fact of the matter is he was suicidal in his actions and suicidal in his comments for the two days leading up to that incident as well."

"Our position is he caused his own demise, 100 percent," Whipple said.

Whipple said that Carrillo had broken up with his girlfriend and had said goodbye to his children before the accident.

However, O'Neale said there was a point during the chase where Carrillo's car was stopped and "if he wanted to commit suicide by cop, there was every opportunity to do it."

O'Neale said the evidence shows that Carrillo's goal was escape, not to commit suicide.

"In the interview, the girlfriend of four years — they were not married, but they were planning to get married — the girlfriend of four years threw him out because she had belief he was resorting to prostitutes," O'Neale said. "Everything he said, by a stretch, could be said I'm being suicidal. But it could also be a lover's farewell, saying now I have to go on with my life without you."

O'Neale argued against letting that evidence in because, he said, there was no statement from Carrillo where he directly said he wanted to kill himself. O'Neale said Carrillo's parting statement to his ex-girlfriend was merely to say goodbye and to take care of the children.

"It's a stretch beyond the limits," O'Neale said. O'Neale said he thought the defense was trying to put the girlfriend on the stand and give testimony that she thought he was suicidal, based on statements Carrillo made to her.

Cadish decided to allow the statements that Carrillo made to his girlfriend to be presented to the jury.

"Given the theory that Mr. Carrillo is the sole cause of the accident and that he did that because he was suicidal, I think the statements are relevant as to his state of mind," Cadish said.

However, the judge said she would not allow the girlfriend to speculate on Carrillo's state of mind.

"She can testify to his demeanor and what he said and how he said it," Cadish said. "But I'm not going to allow her to say, 'Yeah, I thought he was going to kill himself.' That is going too far."