Kayla Lamers -- Victim
Kayla Lamers was the first witness to take the stand. She was up there for more than two hours. Kayla described in great detail what she and Tiffany were wearing the night of the crash. Kayla told the jury that she and Tiffany were wearing darker clothes and that they left Tiffany’s house to walk to the Shell station where Tiffany’s boyfriend was working to deliver some puppy chow. Kayla said they never walked on the pavement that night. She said the only time that they did was when they crossed the street from Lawe to Delanglade.
Kayla became emotional when describing the accident. She said Tiffany was talking on her cell phone at the time. She said that she tried to find out if Tiffany was ok. She described Randall Ashauer and his wife, Paula, coming up to the scene and a couple stopping to render aid.
On cross examination, Mary Lou Robinson pointed to some inconsistencies in Kayla’s statements. Kayla said there were no inconsistencies in her statements.
Craig Leitzke -- Witness
Craig Leitzke said that he drove past Kayla and Tiffany before the crash and that they were walking off the side of the road talking “girlie talk” and putting their hands in the air and turning in circles. At one point he said they were walking backward due to the wind.
Catherine and Shannon Schmidt -- Eyewitnesses
Catherine Schmidt and her family were driving home on Delanglade St. She was driving south and Randall Ashauer was driving north. Schmidt said she noticed Ashauer’s SUV in the distance because he was driving close to the white fog line. She said that she also saw Tiffany and Kayla walking on the shoulder. Schmidt said that as she started to pass Ashauer’s SUV she heard a loud noise, looked over and saw Tiffany flying up and hitting Ashauer’s windshield. She slammed on her brakes and she and her husband Shannon got out of the car.
Schmidt is a certified CPR instructor. She and Shannon called 911 and performed CPR. Tiffany was not breathing and had no pulse. Randall and Paula Ashauer came to the scene. Paula helped with CPR, breathing into Tiffany’s mouth. A portion of the 911 call was played. Tiffany, her mom Vicki and her sister started to cry.
Catherine and Shannon told the jury they smelled alcohol on Ashauer’s breath and he kept saying, “I can’t believe I hit her, c’mon wake up girl.”
Shannon said he actually saw Ashauer hit Tiffany. He said Ashauer was straddling the fog line and the girls were walking on the side of the road.
On cross examination, Mary Lou Robinson said all of the Schmidts, including the two children, had different accounts of what happened. She tried to imply that they were biased in favor of Tiffany, since they had visited her in the hospital and had been in contact with her since the crash.
Today, Paula Ashauer is expected to take the stand.
