Though it's been more than two years, Lynn McEntire can still remember every detail about the day her 11-year-old son, Dallen, was run over by a speed boat on Shaver Lake during Labor Day weekend in 2006.
Testifying in Fresno County Superior Court on Wednesday, McEntire tearfully recalled how she took photographs of Dallen moments before he skidded across the lake on a knee-board being towed by a personal watercraft driven by his father, Jeff McEntire.
She said she didn't see the collision, but she knew something terrible had happened once she heard people yelling and screaming.
McEntire was the first witness in the criminal trial of Roger Isaac Guzman, who is accused of running over Dallen and leaving without rendering aid to the child on Sept. 2, 2006.
Guzman, 37, of Lake Elsinore, is being represented by Fresno attorneys Scott Baly and Roger Nuttall. He has pleaded not guilty.
In opening statements, Baly told jurors in Judge Wayne Ellison's courtroom that Guzman didn't run over the boy, but if he had he was unaware of what happened.
But prosecutor Dennis Cooper said Guzman, who was driving a yellow and white boat with an inboard-outboard motor, had to know he had run over Dallen, who was separated from his father by a 30-foot tow rope.
The 4:20 p.m. collision left Dallen with a fractured skull and deep gashes on his face and chest, Cooper said. The impact damaged the propeller of Guzman's boat and bent the drive shaft, Cooper said.
Cooper said witnesses on other boats yelled at Guzman and waved their arms to warn him that he was fast approaching Dallen and his father.
"There was a slap sound," Cooper said, describing the collision. "The boat slowed down and then fish-tailed."
Guzman didn't stop and later denied any involvement to sheriff's deputies, Cooper said.
Some of the evidence is circumstantial. For example, a witness said the driver of the boat had on a red T-shirt. Guzman was wearing a red T-shirt when Dallen was injured, Cooper said.
Another witness said a passenger in the boat had a tattoo on his back. Guzman's passenger was his friend, Thomas Kirby, who has a tattoo on his back, Cooper said.
But Baly said witnesses gave conflicting statements about the color of the boat and some of its features.
For example, one witness said the yellow boat had a yellow canvas top. Guzman's boat has a black canvas top, Baly said. Another witness saw three people on the boat. But on Guzman's boat it was just him and Kirby, Baly said. In addition, there also were many yellow and white boats on Shaver Lake that day, Baly said.
This is the second trial for Guzman. In his first trial that ended in June, jurors found him guilty of two misdemeanors -- reckless boating and speeding. But the panel was evenly split on the most serious charge -- felony hit and run. All 12 jurors must be unanimous to reach a verdict.
Because of a pretrial ruling, Cooper is retrying Guzman first. Kirby's trial is pending.
The reporter can be reached at plopez@fresnobee.com or (559) 441-6434. source
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