FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – Jurors finished their first day of deliberations with no verdict Tuesday evening in the trial of a man accused of causing a crash that killed a 22-year-old Miami Heat dancer in 2010.
Mario Careaga, 46, is charged with DUI manslaughter in the Sept. 10, 2010, crash that killed Nancy Lopez-Ruiz.
Careaga testified in his own defense Monday that he only had two alcoholic drinks while attending an event at the Galleria in Fort Lauderdale earlier that evening, although surveillance video from stores at the mall shows him walking around with a drink in his hand.
In his closing remarks Tuesday, defense attorney Dave Bogenschutz called the fatal crash an "accident, pure and simple."
However, assistant state attorney Kristin MacKenzie told jurors that alcohol impaired his driving on the night in question.
"Why didn't he react?" MacKenzie said. "Why didn't he see what was clearly in front of him? He admitted (Monday) there were no obstructions to his view of the (crash) area. He just simply didn't look there because he was impaired by alcohol."
Careaga said he wasn't paying attention to what was in front of him because he was focused on the headlights that were fast approaching in his rear-view mirror.
"You can't divide your attention when you've been drinking," MacKenzie said.
Police said Careaga's blood-alcohol level was nearly three times the state legal limit of .08 percent.
MacKenzie reminded jurors of the surveillance video from the mall and the toxicology report.
"Mr. Careaga must have had 13 to 14 drinks," she said. "That sounds like a lot, doesn't it?"
Bogenschutz reminded jurors that their verdict can do nothing to bring Lopez-Ruiz back or give his client peace.
Lopez-Ruiz was about to begin her first season as a Miami Heat dancer when she was killed.
The jurors will return for deliberation Wednesday at 9 a.m.