Jury selection began today in the trial of a Phoenix attorney who is being charged with second-degree murder in the 2001 hit-and-run death of an ASU freshman.
Mark Torre, who graduated from ASU in 1995, was indicted in October 2001 by a grand jury for the death of ASU freshman Jessica Woodin.
Torre, who was a lawyer at the international law firm Squire, Sanders and Desmpsy, plead not guilty to the charge of second-degree murder. His defense alleges that he had a green light and that Woodin was illegally crossing the intersection.
At 2 a.m. on Aug. 18, 2001, a car struck Woodin while she crossed the intersection of Apache Boulevard at McAllister Avenue and dragged her 100 feet. The 18-year-old from Red Bank, N.J., was pronounced dead at the scene, two days before she was to start classes at ASU.
Torre's trial was to begin in February, but Maricopa County Superior Court sent the case back to the grand jury for review, citing that the prosecution failed to tell the jury about the rights and duties of pedestrians.
Arizona law states, "a pedestrian shall not suddenly leave any curb or other place of safety and walk or run into the path of a vehicle that is so close that it is impossible for the driver to yield."
Larry Kazan, Torre's attorney, said in February that the accident would never had happened if Woodin had not been crossing against the light.
Kazan has represented several other high-profile defendants in the Valley, including Phoenix Suns player Stephon Marbury on drunk driving charges and Sean Cooney, husband of Channel 12 news anchor Lin Sue Cooney, on charges related to the death of a friend in a boating accident.
Police officials said the car that struck Woodin was traveling 55-mph in a 35-mph zone, throwing her approximately 250 feet. Torre allegedly left the scene of the crime.
Reach the reporter at christina.viloria@asu.edu.
