Published on Saturday, October 15, 2005
in the Daytona Beach News-Journal

Biker admits to speeding in fatal chase

DAYTONA BEACH -- Dressed in his khaki U.S. Marine's uniform, a fighter pilot now deployed in Iraq testified that he saw a motorcyclist turn and look behind him before a state trooper died during a pursuit on Interstate 4 last fall.

The videotaped testimony of Maj. Billy Wilson of Fleming Island in the Jacksonville area shown to jurors in Donald Williams' trial Friday was recorded Sept. 28, before Wilson was deployed for a two-month assignment as a pilot with the reserves. Wilson was scheduled to leave Oct. 1 and hopes to return home in December.

He was driving from Orlando to Jacksonville on Oct. 2, 2004, when he became a witness in Florida Highway Patrol Trooper Darryl Haywood's fatal crash.

"Suddenly a high-speed vehicle, a motorcycle sport bike, showed up at a high rate of speed," Wilson, 41, said. "He understood someone was following because he didn't look at me, he looked directly behind him."

Wilson's testimony was used by prosecutor Celeste Gagne to show Williams took evasive action and willfully caused Haywood's death. The trooper was pursuing a speeding motorcyclist on the interstate when a rear tire went flat on his cruiser as he traveled at more than 100 mph and he slammed into a tree.

Like others who were on the road that day, Wilson said he was shocked when the motorcycle rocketed by him at what he estimated through his military training to be 130 mph. The trooper's car followed about 30 seconds behind. When he saw the rider weave in and out of traffic and look back, Wilson said, "the weaving just cemented my position that he was definitely using evasive maneuvers."

"It was a quick check six," said the reservist from the Jacksonville area who flies for Federal Express, referring to a military parlance for looking to the rear.

Wilson said the rider's look made him look in his own rearview mirror to see the FHP cruiser coming up from behind. The cruiser passed at a lower rate of speed than the motorcycle, with siren wailing and lights flashing, Wilson said. He then saw a "disruption ahead," as Haywood's car lost control, struck another car and then a tree.

In other testimony heard Friday, a wrecker driver claimed he saw Williams look over his shoulder and a tire expert explained how the special police pursuit tire on Haywood's car was punctured, lost air and went flat, making control difficult.

"If the front (tire) fails, you still have control," said Richard Olsen, a tire expert for Goodyear. "If the rear fails, you don't have that control. You're better off with a failure in the front than in the rear."

As with other witnesses who claimed they saw Williams look behind as he passed rows of cars at more than 100 mph, Tampa defense lawyer Leon Jones challenged what Wilson saw that day in cross-examination on the videotape. "You could tell what direction the helmet might have been pointed, but you can't tell where their eyes are looking, can you ?" Jones asked, to which Wilson replied, "No."

"You still can't tell me where he's looking because you can't see his eyes, isn't that right? You're assuming, based on the position of the helmet, right?"

"Correct," Wilson said.

Jones, a former prosecutor-turned-defense lawyer and another witness for the state, wrecker driver Trevor Smith, were told to "calm down" by Circuit Judge R. Michael Hutcheson after they raised their voices during Jones' cross-examination.

Smith said he was driving east when he saw the motorcyclist pass him and look behind. Jones asked why he had never mentioned that fact to investigators before. "I neglected to tell them," Smith said. "I didn't know if it would be pertinent information at that point."

He also said he felt "a man lost his life unjustly by doing his job."

In a recording of the interview Williams had with investigators after he was spotted at a rest stop in St. Augustine, jurors heard Williams deny that he looked behind, or knew the trooper was in pursuit.

"I want to know what happened," Williams, 39, of Seffner said to investigators when the questioning started.

He said he was on his way to see his 15-year-old daughter, and that he sped up when he saw the trooper parked on the side of the road. "I figured he was going to come after me because I know I was speeding," he said.

Williams knew his motorcycle was not registered and he admitted traveling at more than 100 mph, but he denied looking back or knowing whether the trooper was after him. "I didn't look back," he said. "I just took off."

Williams remains at the Volusia County Branch Jail, charged with aggravated manslaughter, vehicular homicide and fleeing or attempting to elude. For the top two felonies, he could face up to 30 years in prison, if convicted.

The state rested its case Friday. The defense plans to present its case Monday. The decision is expected to go to jurors for deliberations as early as Tuesday.