Day three of trial for woman accused in deadly wrong-way crash wraps

The prosecution rested their case Wednesday morning following more testimony in day 3 of a trial for a Mid-Missouri woman charged for a deadly crash on I-70.

Two more witnesses, including the man who tested Kelli Smith’s rape kit, and an investigator with the Highway Patrol testified in Montgomery County Court Wednesday.

After the prosecution rested, the defense asked for an acquittal because of the lack of evidence that Smith was intoxicated with alcohol at the time of the crash.

The judge said he would take that into consideration but didn’t give an answer.

The defense has since called three witnesses, including one of Smith’s roommates, as well as two nurses who conducted the rape kit on Smith.

Smith’s father testified before the trial wrapped up for the day.

He told the courtroom he wasn’t even aware anyone was investigating a possible sexual assault until about 5 days after the crash when they transferred Smith to a different hospital.

He testified when the nurses first told Smith’s parents they said, “your daughter has been raped.”

He stressed that the nurses told him the rape did in fact happen.

The following day, he and his wife saw the bruises and called Highway Patrol to investigate, but were never informed of what was going on.

Those bruises were a big topic in testimony Wednesday.

A pathologist who has conducted more than a thousand autopsies said the finger-like bruises on her thighs were not consistent with a car crash, and the bruises on her wrist looked like defensive wounds.

During cross examination, he did admit bruises may have possibly come from something during the car crash since it was so violent.

New evidence was presented in day two of a trial for a Mid-Missouri woman charged for a deadly crash on I-70.

Investigators claimed Kelli Smith was drunk while driving in the eastbound lanes of I-70 when she hit another car head-on in Montgomery County in 2012.

One man, Thomas Sullivan, was killed.

On Tuesday, the court approved new evidence that could have a huge impact on the case.

The judge allowed the topic of date rape back into the courtroom.

On Friday, ABC 17 reported a judge ruled to suppress evidence that Smith was possibly given the drug, causing the crash.

The state brought 9 witnesses to the stand Tuesday, including various Highway Patrol troopers, a doctor, a nurse, and the criminalist who ran the blood test.

The doctor testified her injuries could have been consistent with the car crash, but also said his resident and nurses did suspect sexual assault and ordered a rape kit which found evidence Smith was forcibly raped.

The possible rape was a bog topic as was the fact Smith drive the wrong way for at least 7 miles.

A reconstructionist testified a wrong way driver could be the sign of an intoxicated driver, but it doesn’t necessarily mean intoxicated with alcohol.

The blood sample was also debated since the state trooper who collected it had it for 59 hours without refrigeration.

The criminalist said there was no reason to believe it was fermented. The criminalist also found Smith had a BAC of 0.085 and no evidence of drugs.

However, she testified a date rape drug may have already cleared the body by the time the blood was drawn, and she didn’t test for all possibilities of date rape drugs.

Day three of the trial will pick back up Wednesday morning and is expected to be a long one with witness testimony.