Trial begins for man accused in fatal DUI ATV crash

NORRISTOWN » An Upper Providence man was drunk while he operated an all-terrain vehicle and ignored a stop sign, causing a two-vehicle crash on a township roadway that killed the passenger on the ATV, a prosecutor argued to a jury.

“This man went drinking. This man got behind the wheel of an ATV,” Montgomery County Assistant District Attorney Kathleen McLaughlin dramatically pointed at Steven Edward Gismonde Jr. during her opening statement to jurors as Gismonde’s trial got under way on Thursday.

Gismonde, 33, of the 1000 block of South Lewis Road, faces charges of homicide by vehicle while DUI, homicide by vehicle, accidents involving death while not properly licensed, DUI and multiple summary traffic violations in connection with the 2:35 a.m. Dec. 24, 2016, ATV crash that killed his passenger, 21-year-old Sydney Hunter Stone of Trappe.

McLaughlin said Stone had been celebrating the birthday of a friend that night at Gismonde’s house and Gismonde had been giving ATV rides from his house.

“Little did she know that she wouldn’t be coming home,” McLaughlin said.

With the charges, prosecutors alleged Gismonde’s blood-alcohol content was 0.135 percent, above the legal driving limit of 0.08 percent, at the time of the twovehicle crash. Additionally, Gismonde was not licensed to operate a motor vehicle in Pennsylvania and had a suspended driver’s license in the state of New Jersey, prosecutors alleged.

If he’s convicted of homicide by vehicle while DUI, Gismonde could face a mandatory Steven Gismonde Jr. sentence of three years in prison.

But defense lawyer Carrie L. Allman argued prosecutors don’t have sufficient evidence to prove that Gismonde was driving the ATV and she suggested Stone was behind the wheel.

“Sometimes an accident is just an accident and it’s terrible, it’s tragic, but that doesn’t make it a crime,” Allman argued to jurors during her opening statement. “It’s an accident. It’s not a crime committed by Steven Gismonde.”

Allman argued a witness to the crash, the driver of the car struck by the ATV, gave inconsistent statements and testimony and can’t be certain as to who was driving the ATV. Allman argued there is “reasonable doubt” in the case.

McLaughlin argued to jurors that testimony regarding the nature of Stone’s injuries will provide sufficient evidence that she was the passenger on the ATV.

The trial before Judge Steven C. Tolliver is expected to last about four days.

Gismonde remains free on bail pending trial.

An investigation began when Upper Providence police responded to the intersection of Main Street and Greenwood Avenue for a report of a motor vehicle crash involving a 2005 Suzuki King Quad all-terrain vehicle and a 2012 Honda Civic. Arriving officers found Gismonde and Stone lying on the roadway, having been ejected from the ATV, and suffering serious injuries.

Stone was transported to Pottstown Memorial Medical Center where she was pronounced dead. An autopsy determined the cause of Stone’s death was multiple injuries to the head. Stone had no alcohol in her system at the time of her death.

Gismonde was transported to Paoli Hospital for treatment of head injuries, police said.

A joint investigation by Upper Providence police and county detectives determined the ATV, allegedly operated by Gismonde, was traveling southbound on Greenwood Avenue approaching Main Street, or Ridge Pike, when Gismonde failed to stop for a posted stop sign and entered the westbound travel lane of Main Street.

Gismonde’s ATV hit the front passenger side of the Honda, operated westbound on Main Street by a 20-year-old woman, and the impact caused the ATV “to ride up onto the hood of the Honda,” ejecting Gismonde and Stone from the ATV, according to a criminal complaint filed by Upper Providence Police Sgt. Daniel Mulligan, the department’s crash investigator.

Emergency medical officials told investigators they detected a “strong odor of the elements of alcohol about the breath of Gismonde.”

The driver of the Honda told detectives the ATV never stopped for the stop sign before entering her lane of travel and that she didn’t see the ATV approaching the intersection, according to court documents.

The investigation determined there were no mechanical problems with the ATV that could have contributed to the crash.

In charging documents, detectives concluded that Gismonde operated the ATV on a roadway with “extreme recklessness and carelessness while not properly Powerball (May 30): 17-23-26-46-68 Power Ball: 20 Power Play: 2 Mega Millions (May 29): 2-11-55-58-67 Mega Ball: 2 Megaplier: 3 All numbers unofficial until validated. licensed” and failed to stop for a posted stop sign while under the influence of alcohol to a degree “that rendered him incapable of safe operation of a motor vehicle.” Pick 4 (May 31): 2-5-9-8 (Day: 6-3-4-8) Cash 5 (May 31): 1-2-20-27-29 Xtra: 2 Pick 6 (May 31): 9-17-22-25-26-30 Xtra: 2 Cash 4 Life (May 28): 13-29-31-34-47 Cash Ball: 1 Online: Check out the lottery Master’s blog HTTPS://KARLSLOTTERYBLOG.BLOGSPOT.COM