Defendant

DEATH DEFENDANT KNEW DUI RISKS, WITNESS TESTIFIES
Published on Thursday, May 28, 1998
© 1998 The Arizona Republic
Byline: By Jim Walsh, The Arizona Republic

Matt Demos discussed the risks of drunken driving hours before he rammed into a Jeep Cherokee in Chandler, triggering an explosion that killed Aimee Ellis, a co-worker of Demos testified Wednesday.
It was but one of a long list of cautions about drunken driving that Demos ignored before the fatal accident, the prosecutor in the second-degree murder case said.
''How many times, in how many ways, have warnings been given on the dangers posed by driving a vehicle under the influence of alcohol or drugs?'' Deputy Maricopa County Attorney Michael Novitsky asked jurors in opening statements at Demos' trial in Superior Court.
''It's a story about a young man named Matt Demos who chose not only to ignore common sense, but to ignore specific warnings as well,'' Novitsky said. But to Demos' defense attorney, Larry Kazan, the case is not about warnings, but about whether the facts support the second-degree murder charge
Kazan said that he will not dispute that his client was involved in the fatal wreck, and that he was in possession of marijuana at the hospital, where a nurse found a baggie and pipe in his pants pocket.
''This case is about whether the state has appropriately charged the crime of second-degree murder,'' Kazan said. ''Our specific legal defense in this case is that Matt Demos did not have the legal intent to commit the crime of second-degree murder.''
If jurors decide that Demos' behavior is not severe enough to warrant a murder conviction, they could find him guilty of a lesser degree of homicide, such as manslaughter or negligent homicide.
Demos, 21, also is charged with possession of marijuana and possession of drug paraphernalia.
Ellis, 20, was killed Dec. 13 when her Jeep erupted in flames after Demos' vehicle struck hers. Demos was 20 at the time.
''If there is any mercy in this case, it's that the Medical Examiner's Office found that Aimee Ellis died almost instantly,'' Novitsky said.
Novitsky told jurors that Demos had a 0.223 percent blood alcohol content at Good Samaritan Regional Medical Center after the accident, more than twice the 0.10 percent level at which Arizona drivers are presumed under the influence.
In addition, Novitsky said urine tests also proved Demos had used marijuana, posing a heightened risk to others.
Ellis, 20, was stopped at Chandler Boulevard and Interstate 10 when Demos' vehicle rear-ended her going at least 77 mph, Novitsky said.
''I'm going to ask you to stand on principle, to stand on the evidence, and hold Matt Demos responsible for the choices he made,'' Novitsky said.
Shawn Smith, 26, a co-worker of Demos, testified that after working that day repairing grout in tiles, the two smoked marijuana in a movie theater parking lot.
Smith said Demos then drove to a convenience store, where he bought two 22-ounce beers, one for himself and one for Smith. They drank the beer in an isolated area on the Gila River Indian Reservation.
The co-workers then bought a 12-pack of Budweiser and decided to drive to Tucson because Smith never had been there, Smith said.
It was during the trip to Tucson that Smith said he told Demos about his two DUIconvictions in California, one in 1990 and another the following year.
Smith testified that he drank six beers and Demos drank about the same amount. When they returned to Chandler, they went to the Stadium Club, where Demos knew a waitress, and continued drinking mostly beer and shots of liquor.
When the two left the bar briefly to take a piece of equipment to Demos' house inAhwatukee, Smith and Demos again discussed drunken driving, Smith said.
''I think I said, if you get too drunk, I'll drive you home and take a cab back,'' Smith testified under questioning from Novitsky.
But under cross examination by Kazan, Smith conceded that he still got behind the wheel even though he was ''a little buzzed'' and unquestionably impaired.
Smith testified that Demos became upset when a waitress cut him off at the Stadium Club because he was getting too drunk. Smith said he thought Demos had gone to the bathroom but Demos actually had left the bar and drove away.
Under Kazan's questioning, Smith conceded he never made a second offer to drive Demos home, even after he noticed that Demos was upset when the waitress refused to serve him more alcohol.