Braylon Davis sits with attorney Jay Underwood in the courtroom of Judge Barry Steelman
photo by Claire Henley
Braylon G. Davis, 21, pled not guilty to the vehicular homicide by intoxication of 25-year-old Taylor Lee Collins at the start of a trial Tuesday.
Davis also pled not guilty to the five remaining counts of DUI, reckless endangerment, being a minor in possession of alcohol, violating the financial responsibility law, and driving under the influence of marijuana.
The single-vehicle crash took place at midnight on Dec.
3, 2013 on South Germantown Road.
According to Prosecutor Kate Lavery, Davis was driving so fast he lost control of his car and spun off the road. The car crashed into a house at 20 S. Germantown Road and flipped. Mr. Collins, the unrestrained front-seat passenger, flew out of the car and suffered head injuries that led to his death.
At the start of her opening statement to the jury, prosecutor Lavery displayed a photo of the victim.
She made the point that Davis was driving so fast that not even the hill leading to the house could slow him down.
Davis, who was wearing a seatbelt, suffered a concussion and minor injuries.
Defense attorney Jay Underwood of the public defender's office said the most important question in the case is what caused the car accident resulting in Mr. Collins’ death.
According to attorney Underwood, on the night of the accident Davis had a blood alcohol concentration (BAC) of .10%. The legal BAC for driving in the state of Tennessee is .08%.
Attorney Underwood said that in the case of vehicular homicide by intoxication, one of the elements that must be proven is that Mr. Collins’ death was the result of Davis’ intoxication.
He gave the example of a driver under the influence driving down the road. A tree falls on the driver’s car and the passenger of that car dies. He asked if the passenger’s death is the result of the driver’s intoxication or the tree falling on the car.
The example helped to show his point that the state must prove that Mr. Collins’ death was the result of Davis’ intoxication for the charge to be valid. The state also has to prove if Davis was intoxicated to the extent of leading to the death of Mr. Collins.
According to attorney Underwood, the two people in the vehicle were friends who lived in the same apartment complex. On the night of the accident, both had been drinking. Davis was driving Mr. Collins home. There was horseplay going on and Mr. Collins grabbed the steering wheel. Mr. Underwood said Davis told Mr. Collins to cut it out. But Mr. Collins grabbed the wheel again. That is what caused the wreck, Mr. Underwood said.
Regarding Davis’ count of reckless endangerment, attorney Underwood said the state must prove the members of the house Davis crashed into were in danger of serious injury of death as a result of the accident.
Proof will show the members of the house were not hurt at all, he stated.
“This is a case that involves the death of a young man. It’s easy to let emotion get involved,” said attorney Underwood.
He urged the jury to not let their emotions, whether they are angry or sad, decide their verdict.
“Don’t assume, ‘Well, (Davis) was driving and he was under the influence, and that’s what caused the verdict’… Render your verdict based solely on the law.”
Jeffery Buckner, who lived in the Germantown residence at the time of the crash, testified that the car crashed into the storage room in the front of the house where no one sleeps.
Three people, including Mr. Buckner, were in the house on the night of the accident and no one was injured.
Mr. Buckner said he heard three loud bangs and felt the walls shake when the accident occurred. He went outside to see what happened and was in shock that a car was there.
A former EMT, Mr. Buckner told his girlfriend, Sonia Kauer, to call 911. Then he made an emergency move to unbuckle Davis and help him out of the driver’s seat.
Mr. Buckner said he could smell alcohol on Davis’ person as he helped him out of the car.
According to Mr. Buckner, he asked Davis how much he had had to drink that night, and Davis replied, “Way too much.”
Mr. Buckner testified that Davis told him his buddy had been driving even though Mr. Buckner pulled Davis from the driver’s seat.
It wasn’t until that point Mr. Buckner realized there might be someone else in the car. He testified that he looked for another person in the car but found no one.
Neither Mr. Buckner nor his girlfriend saw Mr. Collins had been thrown into the bushes in front of the house.
A traffic reconstruction specialist from the city police said the car hit a curb, then traveled 132 feet before striking the house while spinning in a counter-clockwise motion.
The brunt of the damage on the vehicle was on the passenger side.
The vehicle at one point went airborne and came down on its nose, the officer said.
The victim was ejected through the front windshield.