Defense grills El Paso police officers who worked deadly crash

UPDATE: When the prosecution rested, the defense began questioning witnesses on the safety of the construction site.

Office Victor Mijares was the first witness to take the stand. Mijares was assigned to traffic control the night of the crash. He claimed he was parked in the area of I-10 East at Executive, which was the intersection Nieves allegedly drove through. Mijares said he never saw anyone driving on the blocked off road.

The second witness was a Special traffic investigator who testified that there was a lack of barriers and traffic control cones blocking the route to the construction site. Prosecutors declines to cross exam both witnesses.

Another witness called to the stand was the emergency room doctor that Nieves visited after the crash. Nieves was taken to the ER close to two hours after the crash, and Dr. Sirous Partovi testified that Nieves was “not overtly drunk.” He told jurors that Nieves was walking straight, alert and not belligerent. When cross examined by the prosecutors, the doctor did say that Nieves admitted to having alcohol the night of the crash.

Trial will resume Monday morning at 9.

Original story: A forensic scientist and a medical examiner testified Friday in the trial of Jan Michael Nieves Delgado, the former Fort Bliss soldier accused of driving drunk and killing two construction workers.

On May 11th, 2014, I-10 had to be shut down overnight for the construction of Spur 1966 near UTEP.

Police said Nieves Delgado, 18 years old at the time, ignored the road closure. He allegedly crashed through construction barriers, killing Jimmy Joe Broadstreet, 54; and James Green, 39.

Delgado faces two counts of Intoxicated Manslaughter.

Friday, prosecutors called Jamie Mraz, the forensic scientist who tested Nieves Delgado’s blood alcohol content level, to the stand.

The jury was shown the tests results, which revealed the former Fort Bliss soldier allegedly had a .11 blood alcohol content level, which is .03 over the legal limit in Texas.

Jurors also heard from a medical examiner who explained the cause of death for both construction workers.

Green was pronounced dead on scene. The medical examiner said most of his injuries were to the head and neck and Green died of blunt force trauma to the head.

Broadstreet suffered more injuries, the medical examiner said. His left leg was amputated from the impact after being crushed between a crane and counter weight. He later died in the hospital and the medical examiner said Broadstreet died from multiple blunt force injuries.

Nieves Delgado is facing up to 20 years in prison for each count of Intoxicated Manslaughter.

Thursday, jurors were shown dozens of photos of the deadly crash. Prosecutors were trying to walk the courtroom through the moments leading up to the crash.

Jurors heard from EPPD Officer Christina Samples, the first to arrive at the scene of the deadly crash, described as “very chaotic.”

Nieves allegedly told Officer Samples he and his friend had just left a bar and that he had only had three shots.Police say when they questioned Delgado, he told them he was driving because his friend was too drunk to drive.

Prosecutors also called El Paso Police Officer and Special Traffic Investigator Adrian Cisneros to the stand. Cisneros told jurors Nieves was driving about 50 miles per hour before he allegedly ran over the constructions workers.

Prosecutors also showed pictures of barricades and cones blocking the freeway ramp, arguing it was clearly marked and blocked to prevent drivers from accessing that portion of the freeway.

Court documents state Delgado told police he never saw the construction barriers or machinery.

Defense attorneys said their client made a mistake and argued the freeway should have been blocked off by police cars.