A Kenai jury on Tuesday found Jamie Petterson not guilty of causing the deaths of an Anchorage couple in a 2002 fiery car crash on the Seward Highway.
Erwin "Jamie" Petterson Jr., 29, of Kenai, was charged with second-degree murder for allegedly watching an in-dash DVD movie as his Ford pickup truck crossed the centerline and collided head-on with the couple's Jeep Grand Cherokee.
Robert Weiser, 60, and Donna Weiser, 56, were killed in the collision near Bertha Creek on Oct. 12, 2002.
To the expressed relief of two dozen friends and family members of Petterson, a jury of eight women and four men found him not guilty of the two murder counts as well as not guilty of lesser charges of manslaughter and criminal negligent homicide.
The jury began deliberating its verdict just before 1 p.m. Monday after hearing testimony of witnesses for more than two weeks.
The jurors broke at about 5 p.m. and resumed deliberations at 8:30 Tuesday morning. They met for one hour before agreeing Petterson was not guilty.
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Erwin ³Jamie² Petterson receives a hug from Jon Douglas after Petterson was acquitted of all charges against him Tuesday morning. Douglas was a passenger in Petterson's truck during a collision that left two dead in 2002.
Photo by M. Scott Moon
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Superior Court Judge Charles Cranston formally entered a judgment of acquittal on all charges, exonerated Petterson's bail and released him from being required to be with a third-party custodian.
Petterson immediately turned and began hugging members of his family who had sat in the courtroom gallery observing the proceedings since jury selection began three weeks ago.
"I feel pretty relieved," Petterson said outside the courtroom.
He said he didn't get much sleep Monday night after the case was turned over to the jury.
On Tuesday, he had just gotten into the shower when a phone call came saying the jury had a verdict.
Jamie Petterson rode to the Kenai courthouse with his father, Jim Petterson, his third-party custodian.
"I'm just glad the truth came out," the younger Petterson said.
He also had a hug for Jonathan Douglas, the sole passenger in Petterson's truck the day of the crash.
During the trial, witnesses told the jury Douglas had phoned his ex-wife, Marty Zoda, from an Anchorage hospital after the accident saying he had been watching a DVD movie when the crash occurred.
Douglas denied ever saying that and maintained he was "zoned out" on trees and the road and was not watching a movie.
"I'm relieved," Douglas said Tuesday
"I anticipated this verdict. Nonetheless, it's been nerve-racking," he said.
When asked if he planned to resume doing carpentry work with Petterson, he said, "We'll see how things go. I hope so."
Since the criminal charges were filed against Petterson more than one year ago, Douglas had been ordered not to have contact with his work partner.
Douglas said he was actually working on a roof when he received a phone call Tuesday morning saying the verdict was in.
He left the job and went to the courthouse to be with his friend.
Petterson's attorneys also expressed satisfaction with the verdict.
"He should have never been on trial," said Eric Derleth.
"The grand jury indicted him on inadmissible and incomplete evidence," the lawyer said.
Defense attorney Chuck Robinson said he was "elated" by the acquittal.
"Mr. Petterson was not guilty before the trial started and he's innocent now," Robinson said.
"It was just a very tragic accident," he said.
Assistant district attorney June Stein, prosecutor in the case, said she was disappointed by the verdict and had felt sure the jury would convict Petterson of at least one of the lesser included offenses ‹ manslaughter or criminal negligent homicide.
"Obviously, I thought the original charge was appropriate," Stein said.
David and Martin Weiser, sons of the couple who died in the accident, said they felt justice wasn't served, but said they don't harbor any ill feelings.
They plan to work with state and federal legislators to get laws written to prohibit the viewing of DVD movies while driving.
Currently it is not illegal in Alaska.
They also said they plan to lobby electronics manufacturers seeking that the devices be engineered so drivers cannot use the equipment while driving.
Of their parents, David Weiser said, "The healing is going to take a lot longer than this trial; a lot longer than two years."
He said he still has a recording of his mother's last message to him on his cell phone.
"I can't bring myself to delete it yet," he said.
During closing arguments Monday, Robinson told the jury that Robert Weiser's physician saw evidence of internal hemorrhaging on Oct. 10, 2002, "a condition that could affect a driver's ability to drive," Robinson said.
Throughout the trial, the defense maintained that the Weisers' vehicle may have been the one that crossed the centerline, colliding with Petterson's.
The Weisers were headed to a weekend getaway on the Kenai Peninsula.
