As he testified in his reckless homicide trial Wednesday, Libertyville Assistant Fire Chief Kenneth Norton was overcome by emotion as he described returning to the scene of an accident last summer in which Norton’s pickup truck struck and killed a Grayslake cyclist.
But Norton, 42, repeatedly denied that he was impaired by alcohol at the time of the accident on July 30, 1997, that led to the death of Mark Capistrant, 43.
Whether Norton’s tearful testimony would sway a Lake County jury remained to be seen. The jury of eight men and four women on the panel deliberated for five hours Wednesday evening but failed to reach a verdict and will reconvene Thursday.
In addition to one count of reckless homicide, Norton faces misdemeanor charges that he failed to stop after the accident and didn’t render aid. If convicted, Norton faces up to 14 years in prison, prosecutors said.
A felony conviction also could provide the grounds for terminating Norton from the Libertyville Fire Department, where he has worked for two decades, town officials said.
In testimony Wednesday, the third day of the trial, Norton testified that between 4 and 5:30 p.m. the day of the accident, he consumed half a can of beer and a glass of wine. But he said that he ate tuna casserole and watched television before he left at 6:30 p.m. to meet a sailing partner, William Laslow, at the Waukegan Yacht Club.
Defense attorney Thomas Briscoe produced bar receipts that showed four drinks were ordered by the two men, who testified that Laslow had two vodka drinks and Norton had two rum-and-colas. Norton and Laslow both testified that they drank the beverages over a 45-minute period sometime between 7 and 8 p.m.
Laslow said in court that Norton didn’t appear drunk and that Laslow allowed Norton to carry Laslow’s 5-month-old daughter.
Norton testified that as he drove home from the yacht club, he headed west on Illinois Highway 120. As he drove west of U.S. Highway 45, about 8:30 p.m., Norton said his attention focused on a busy restaurant on the south side of the road and oncoming traffic.
He never saw Capistrant, Norton said. He then heard a “heavy thump.”
“I thought I just hit something at that point which was just debris,” he testified. “I couldn’t see anything in the roadway.”
He said he continued on his way home, but became concerned when he heard sirens and then saw a police car rushing to the scene.
“I became very emotional,” he said, his voice quavering. “I started to feel maybe I hit someone as opposed to something.”
Norton returned to the scene of the accident after meeting his wife in front of their home. As he described seeing a man on a stretcher, Norton repeatedly stopped his testimony and cried.
Asked by Briscoe if he thought he was impaired or if he knew initially that he had struck a human being, Norton replied, “No, sir.”
But prosecutor Randie Bruno questioned if Norton was doubting the words and opinions of his wife, Jane–who testified Tuesday that she thought her husband was “slightly impaired”–and that of Grayslake Police Officer Rita Stang, a casual acquaintance of Norton’s who testified that he failed field sobriety tests.
And Bruno questioned why Norton, once he became concerned he had hit someone, called his wife on his cellular phone but did not dial 911.
In closing arguments, prosecutors argued that Norton clearly was under the influence of alcohol, and that Norton’s actions were reckless because he knowingly got behind the wheel of his truck after drinking.
“He used poor judgment in his decision to drink too much,” Assistant State’s Atty. Kelly Collins said. “Just because of the fact that he has a prominent job as a fire chief does not make him unaccountable under the law.
“This is a man that has chosen a profession that is dedicated to helping people. Well, he certainly didn’t hold himself to that standard in his personal life. He was thinking of himself (when he drove away). He wasn’t thinking of Mr. Capistrant.”
But Briscoe criticized the “sloppiness” of the Grayslake Police Department, which did not require Norton give blood to determine how much alcohol he had consumed.
He argued that the 175-pound Norton would have metabolized most of the alcohol he had drunk by the time of the collision.
“This was an accident,” Briscoe said. At worst, “Ken Norton was negligent but not reckless.”
