Capping two weeks at trial, emotional closing arguments were presented to a packed courtroom Thursday, ending the Arizona v. Mark Torre second-degree murder hearing and sending the jury into deliberation.
"The speed isn't what caused the accident," said Larry Kazan, attorney for 29-year-old Mark Torre, who is being tried for the hit-and-run death of 18-year-old ASU freshman Jessica Woodin.
"What caused it is ignoring the rules of the road, ignoring the red lights. If people start crossing the street whenever they want, there's going to be a heck of a havoc at intersections," Kazan added.
The prosecution presented the jury with a different outlook however, and Deputy Attorney Michael Gingold relayed to the jury what he considered as the "reckless" manner in which Torre behaved on the night of Aug. 18, 2001.
"He's trying to make excuses for his behavior, he could not tell you why he left the scene," Gingold said. "He was scared, he'd been drinking all night, speeding down the road, and split a girl in half. He was afraid the police would find out what he did."
Gingold said Torre should be found guilty because he was intoxicated, and was driving carelessly at estimated speeds of 60-75 mph according to prosecution.
"He didn't stop, he didn't call 9-1-1, he left the scene of the crime," Gingold said. "He took his car to a deserted spot at the side of the road, left it there and started on the four-hour trek to Nalabandian's house." Gingold said Torre acted with extreme indifference to human life when he left the scene of the crime.
"There is no way the defendant did not know Jessica was either seriously injured or dead," he said. "He left her there dead in two pieces."
Kazan rebutted with a request to the jury that they base their decision not on sympathy for either party, but on the facts alone.
"The law requests the highest standard of proof in a criminal case," Kazan said. "It demands that you be firmly convinced. It's all or nothing in this case. In this case, it should be nothing."
Kazan further lobbied for Torre by creating an image as a person, not a criminal.
"He went to ASU, graduated summa cum laude, he was bright enough to get into Harvard law, he got into some trouble that night and wound up a year later working in a bowling alley," he said.
Torre currently works as an assistant manager in an area bowling alley since leaving his position with international law firm Squire, Sanders and Dempsey.
Kazan said his defendant's only crime was leaving the scene, since Woodin and her friend chose to cross against the light.
"The only time a pedestrian has the right of way is in a crosswalk or when the light is green," he said. "You don't run out across the street on a red light because a car might hit you."
Woodin was hit by Torre's 2001 Ford Mustang Bullitt as she was crossing near the intersection of McAllister Avenue and Apache Boulevard with her friend Nicholas Pitts at approximately 2:14 a.m., two days prior to the beginning of her first semester of classes.
Before the closing statements began, Torre finished his time on the stand, pleading his case to the jury one last time.
Visibly shaken and barely audible, Torre finished telling the jury what he did after the accident.
Torre said he heard sirens when he got out of his car at 10th Street and Mitchell Drive and assumed they were meant for Woodin.
"I never believed there was anything I could have done to avoid the accident," Torre said.
Torre didn't turn himself in to authorities until two days after the accident and said he couldn't give a good reason why he left the scene.
"There's no excuse for it," Torre said. "Something seemed wrong about the situation."
Torre said he didn't understand why someone would be in the roadway.
"I don't know why they ran in front of the car." Torre said.
Torre and friend Paul Nalabandian got out and "just started walking" to Nalabandian's central Phoenix condominium.
On the four-hour walk, Torre said he Nalabandian didn't talk much.
"I thought I needed to turn myself in," Torre said.
Torre plead not guilty to charges of second-degree murder.
Woodin's step-brother, 29-year-old Ryan Savard, attended each day of the trial and recalled the last time he had seen Jessica.
"She was only out there for a day; we had just taken her to the airport," Savard said. "I got the call two days later."
Savard said he feels bad for Torre and his family.
"No verdict is going to change anything," Savard said. "It's just all sad for both families; there's not going to be any good coming out of this."
With the jury currently in deliberations, there is no scheduled time frame for a verdict.
Reach the reporters at nicole.girard@asu.edu and meagan.pollnow@asu.edu.
