GREELEY, Colo. — The truck driver charged with killing a family of five on Interstate 25 had no chance of stopping before the crash. His own attorneys argued in court Tuesday that the truck’s brakes weren’t working when he got behind the wheel, but they say he shouldn’t be the one who is held accountable.
Sitting inside a Greeley courtroom on Tuesday, Jesus Puebla faces five counts of vehicular homicide. Nearly two years after his truck slammed into a car on I-25 and killed five people, his trial began.
"When the prosecution tells you that Mr. Puebla didn’t use the brakes, he didn’t use the brakes because he didn’t have brakes," said James Colgan, an attorney representing Puebla.
Puebla’s attorneys argue the company that owned the truck is truly at fault.
The truck Puebla was driving was carrying mail for the United States Postal Service (USPS). A Colorado State Patrol (CSP) investigation and the truck driver’s own attorneys both conclude the truck did not have working brakes.
Colgan argued in court that Puebla did a test of the brakes in the parking lot before he got on the highway but did not notice anything wrong.
"The brakes did not work at the speed in which the speed that Mr. Puebla needed the brakes at that day. He had approximately 30% of his braking power," Colgan said.
They call it a Frankenstein truck. Lawyers say the company Puebla drove for, Caminantes Trucking, altered the truck, hooking up different brakes that weren’t powerful enough to actually stop it. It’s an argument prosecutors say is flawed.
"There was only one person who did not slow down or stop. That man, sitting right there," said Erin Vargas Gutierrez, a prosecutor with the Weld County District Attorney's Office.
Dez and Stephen Everts lost their daughter, granddaughter, son-in law, and in-laws. On Tuesday, they sat in court for the first time, coming face to face with the truck driver accused of killing their family.
"Being here, I just want to pass out. I want to puke. I can’t stop crying," Everts said. "He didn’t just kill those five people that day. He killed all of our families. We struggle on the daily and nothing will ever be the same again."
Documents from the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration show Puebla was in violation of many things, including driving without a valid commercial driver's license.
Federal court filings allege that Caminantes Trucking tried to buy insurance for the truck less than an hour after the crash.
The USPS cancelled their contract with Caminantes Trucking around a year after the crash, following a 9NEWS investigation.
The trial in Weld County is expected to last a week.
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