Witnesses: Linda Woodman dazed, detached after Wheatsville Co-Op wreck

Aug. 26--4:40 p.m. update: Linda Woodman told Nathaniel Lanham that she struck a pothole or a bump in the road on the evening that Austin police say she crashed into the Wheatsville Co-Op in a Lexus SUV, killing a man and critically injuring a young woman.

In continuing testimony Tuesday, Lanham and other witnesses described the driver as detached, dazed and unworried. Some said she had a glazed look in her eyes and appeared to be drugged on painkillers or narcotics, and her demeanor, they told jurors, did not match the chaotic scene they had seen her cause.

Lanham, who helped the former nurse out of the Lexus after it became wedged between two poles outside a cleaning business, said Woodman did appear "not all gone but not all there." His girlfriend, Allison Uszler, said Woodman told her she was a nurse and asked if Uszler wanted to see her car insurance.

"'No, I don't, but I think someone up there does,'" Uszler said she told Woodman.

Sarah Lee Parker, who was struck by the Lexus, told jurors she suffered a fractured jaw and shoulder and still has not recovered full movement in her left arm. She recalled trying to jump to safety when she saw the Lexus rushing toward her, but she was not quick enough.

"I remember a lot of shouting all around me," she said. "I remember someone shout, 'She is alive.'"

Earlier: Witnesses on the stand Tuesday said Linda Woodman seemed giddy and was laughing around Austin police officers moments after they saw her crash into the Wheatsville Co-Op in a Lexus SUV, killing a man and critically injuring a young woman.

In a trial this week, prosecutors are contending the former nurse is to blame for the February 2012 wreck as they say she exaggerated her pain following a seizure to receive morphine and Percocet only hours earlier and refused to heed medical advice against driving. But defense lawyers argue the Seton medical facility that treated her is at fault as its employees prescribed high levels of narcotics to their client and then released her to a cab without a relative.

Woodman, 61, has been charged with manslaughter and aggravated assault in the collision that killed Dik Van Meerten, 61, and wounded Sarah Lee Parker, 21. She is facing up two 20-year terms in prison if convicted.

Police have said the former pediatric nurse lost control of her SUV and jumped a curb on Guadalupe Street near West 31 Street, just north of the University of Texas. She collided with signs and large flower pots, a Capital Metro bus stop bench and several bike racks before striking the organic food store and the two pedestrians who had been on the sidewalk.

In opening statements, prosecutors Anna Lee McNelis and Rob Drummond said Woodman's reckless actions caused the fatal wreck, as she had driven intoxicated and at an unsafe rate of speed, swerving into oncoming traffic without hitting the breaks.

"What happened there that night changed the lives of countless of people," McNelis said.

But her defense lawyers, Joe James Sawyer and Steve Brand, contended the medical facility had tried to skirt liability. Seton Medical Center officials conducted a review of crash about 48 hours after but kept the record concealed for two years and six months, they say.

"The most damning thing in that internal report says that they failed to meet their own standard of care," Sawyer said.

On the stand, witnesses described a chaotic and traumatic scene, saying they saw the Lexus tear down the road, sparks flying as it crashed with cars and dragged a bus stop bench in its undercarriage. It brought down a light post and only came to a stop after the SUV was wedged between two steel poles outside a cleaning business further down, they said.

"Everything happened so fast," said Terry Rodriguez, who had been selling Girl Scout cookies with her family outside the organic food store. "I just remember people yelling, 'Stop the car. Stop the car.'"

Before the SUV collided into Wheatsville, it struck a BMW from behind, causing it to spin out of control. "It sounded like an explosion," said John Barkley, who had been sitting at the driver's seat. "I felt an impact. The airbags deployed. I remember hearing the noise and then being in the parking lot next door."

For more on this case, read here.

Find Jazmine Ulloa on Twitter: @jazmineulloa

___

(c)2014 Austin American-Statesman, Texas

Visit Austin American-Statesman, Texas at www.statesman.com

Distributed by MCT Information Services