Accident scene changed in distracted driving trial

TUCSON, Arizona (13 News) – The trial of Jana Giron, accused of texting while driving and manslaughter charges, continues today, August 20. She is accused of causing the car crash that killed two people in Oro Valley in 2019.

At the northwest corner of Shannon Road and Sahuaro Divide, a memorial stands for Caitlin Festerling and Paul Garcia, both of whom died in the crash. A sign advising motorists that Oro Valley is a hands-free area greets motorists just down the road marked by a tragedy that prosecutors said could have been prevented by Jana Giron on Friday.

“It doesn't matter if she's sending the text message at that moment, reading it, or putting it in her purse and just not looking. The fact is she could be reading the New York Times and she could have a newspaper in front of her; the fact is she has the responsibility of operating this very large vehicle at a high rate of speed, and she's not paying attention to where she's going,” said prosecutor Rachel Stiles in arguing against Giron's acquittal of the charges.

On November 13, 2019, Giron was driving her Buick north on Shannon Road when she struck the Acura driven by Caitlin Festerling, with Paul Garcia as a passenger. They turned left onto Sahuaro Divide and the impact forced them into the southbound lane, where they were immediately struck by a white GMC pickup truck. Giron is charged with two counts of manslaughter, two counts of criminal damage to property, and one count each of endangerment and tampering with evidence for deleting text messages.

“Obviously there is no evidence that she was tampering with her phone or was distracted. All the evidence points to her speeding and following too closely, which is what she got the ticket for,” said Dawn Priestman, Giron's defense attorney, as part of her argument for acquittal on all charges.

Shannon Road now has a center lane, which didn't exist in 2019. Giron's defense argued that she didn't know two people would die in an accident she caused. However, the judge refused to acquit Giron of the charges.

“You don’t think it would be reasonable to conclude that Ms. Giron might have been distracted?” asked the Honorable Christopher Browning Priestman in Pima County Superior Court.

The defense will now call witnesses and the jury will decide whether the charges are justified.

“This behavior, distraction, does not constitute gross deviation, which is different from deviation,” Priestman said.

“Her vehicle would have been fine if she hadn't crashed into it at that high speed,” Stiles said.

The judge told the jury that closing arguments would likely take place as early as Wednesday.

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