A jury trial for a man accused of driving drunk and hitting a pedestrian started Monday morning in Bangor.
David Mackenzie, 52, of Holden, allegedly drank 12 Michelob Ultra beers throughout six hours at High Tide Restaurant and Bar on July 15, 2023. He then drove home, hitting then-87-year-old Ira Williams of Brewer, leaving Williams with what police called serious injuries.
Mackenzie is charged with four felonies, aggravated operating under the influence, aggravated assault, leaving the scene of an accident causing serious bodily injury or death, criminal operating under the influence.
It is rare for OUI cases to go to a jury trial. Whether Mackenzie was intoxicated and whether he knowingly hit Williams are two questions the jury must answer following the multi-day trial that started Monday in Penobscot County Superior Court, defense attorney Hunter Tzovarras said during opening statements.
Williams was pushing a wheelbarrow full of hedge trimmings while crossing Eastern Avenue around 8:40 p.m. that night in July, Penobscot County Deputy District Attorney Mark Rucci said. Mackenzie hit Williams and the wheelbarrow, carrying him on the hood for a distance before he fell off, Rucci said.
After hitting something, Mackenzie stopped for about 60 seconds, saw hedge clippings in the road, and didn’t know he hit anyone, so he drove home, Tzovarras said.
Witness testimony from police will show the crash wouldn’t have happened if Mackenzie was not impaired, Rucci said. Testimony will also show how police connected a car mirror to Mackenzie, where they found a car with a dent in the hood, a spiderweb crack on the windshield and GPS data showing the car was at the scene of the crash, Rucci said.
Video footage from High Tide will show Mackenzie “walks just fine” when he leaves the restaurant, along with driving fine out of the parking lot, Tzovarras said.
There was no blood or breath alcohol test administered because Mackenzie was not at the scene of the crash. An expert witness will estimate what his potential blood alcohol content was at the time of the crash. She can testify it was above the legal limit of .08 percent, but not give the jury a specific number, Judge Ann Murray ruled.
Rucci must prove beyond a reasonable doubt to the jury that Mackenzie intentionally or knowingly hit Williams, and that Mackenzie was impaired, Tzovarras said. It is not illegal to drink alcohol and then drive, he added.
The trial is expected to last three days.
