BY LAURA COLVIN
Clarkston News Staff Writer
Ramon Pineda climbed into the witness box last week, raised his right hand and promised to tell the truth.
Speaking through a translator, Pineda told jurors he knew he’d run his Camaro into Vincent D’Anna’s motorcycle on Sashabaw Road Aug. 26, and he knew the bike and rider were trapped under the Camaro as a result.
Jurors had already heard witnesses claim smoke puffed and gravel flew as Pineda revved the engine at the crash scene south of Clarkston Road just after 8 p.m.
‘I stopped for a few seconds,? Pineda said from the stand. ‘I was trying to see if he was under the car. When I didn’t see the driver I got scared and started pushing the gas. I knew he was underneath.?
Assistant Oakland County Prosecutor Robert Novy asked if Pineda knew what was happening to the man trapped between the low-riding Camaro and the Sashabaw pavement.
‘Did you think it would hurt him?? Novy asked.
‘Yes,? Pineda replied. ‘I knew he was underneath and I was trying to get my car off him.?
On Friday, a jury of eight women and four men found Ramon Felix Pineda, now 26, guilty of second-degree murder in the death of off-duty Flint police officer Vincent D’Anna.
During the course of the weeklong trial, 12 eyewitnesses took the stand to describe how the scene unfolded in Independence Township last summer: The driver of a white 1992 Camaro revved his car’s engine repeatedly as he hit the 2007 Suzuki motorcycle D’Anna, 26, was riding along southbound Sashabaw Road, then hit it again, causing D’Anna to fall, then struck a third time, rolling over D’Anna and trapping him between the car’s front and rear tires.
Witnesses said Pineda made no attempt to stop, and appeared as if he were trying to flee the scene.
Investigators testified D’Anna and his bike dragged along under the Camaro for about 123 feet before the motorcycle veered off. D’Anna remained under the car, rolling and scraping along the Sashabaw pavement for another 60 feet before the car came to a halt.
State Police Toxicologist Felix Adatsi testified that Pineda had a blood alcohol level of .16, which he explained as .16 grams of alcohol per 100 ml of blood. Generally speaking, depending on a person’s weight and food intake, he said, such a level indicates consumption of eight to nine beers consumed in an hour.
In just under three hours, the jury convicted Pineda of second-degree murder, driving while intoxicated causing death, failure to stop at the scene of an accident, operating a vehicle with a suspended license and false certification of personal information to obtain a driver’s license.
‘It was definitely the verdict we were hoping to hear,? said D’Anna’s sister Camile Leinbach, who shouldered difficult testimony alongside family and friends all week. ‘But it doesn’t make anything easier’we’ve been waiting so long for the trial, but nothing changed after it was over. We still live with this every day of our lives.?
Chief Judge Wendy Potts presided over the trial and will hand down Pineda’s sentence June 4 at 10:30 a.m. He could face life in prison.
Continuing with his somewhat unexpected testimony, Pineda said his cell phone rang as he noticed the cars ahead slowing for a turn into the driveway of DTE Energy Theatre.
‘When the phone rang, for a minute I lost track of front of car,? he said. ‘I tried to grab (the phone) but I couldn’t.?
By then, he said, he saw the motorcycle in front of him, and veered right when he realized he wouldn’t be able to stop in time.
The Camaro’s left front bumper connected with the rear wheel of D’Anna’s motorcycle.
‘After I hit it I didn’t see the motorcycle any more,? he said. ‘That’s when I felt my car was over the motorcycle.?
As he accelerated in an attempt to ‘get his car off? D’Anna, Pineda said he could feel that the front drivers side wheel was not on the ground.
When the car finally came to a stop about 205 feet south of where the accident began, Pineda testified that ‘his thought was wait for the police.?
But when witnesses approached on both sides of the vehicle and began yelling at him to get out of the car, Pineda said he grew fearful, and claimed the scene reminded him of an incident where he’d been hospitalized ‘for about a month? when he was jumped and beaten by five men several years ago.
The recollection, he said, prompted him to run from the scene in fear of another beating.
After witnesses lifted the car, D’Anna was transported to Genesys Hospital in Grand Blanc, where he was pronounced dead at 1:54 a.m., Monday, Aug 27.
Dr. Patrick Cho of the Oakland County Medical Examiner’s Office testified D’Anna died from multiple blunt force injuries, specifically cardiac contusions, and pulmonary contusions and lacerations ? bruises and scratches to his heart and lungs.
As he ran from the scene, Pineda was tackled in the parking lot of a nearby strip mall by several bystanders who later testified Pineda tried several times to get up and run away, while alternately moaning ‘Why me? Why me??
All witnesses who testified to hearing Pineda ask ‘why me?? said the man spoke clear English. Pineda’s comprehension of the language was an issue throughout the trial.
Defense attorney Elias Escobedo Jr., argued his client’s Miranda rights were violated because Pineda, who went through sixth-grade in Mexico, did not have a firm grasp of the English language and therefore did not understand the implications of proceeding with the a police interview without an attorney the day after the incident.
Detective Sergeant Gary Miller, however, who interviewed Pineda’s wife the day after the incident, said Dawn Pineda told him her husband understood English ‘very well,? and that he determined the fact to be true, as well.
The prosecution played the videotaped interview in question for the jury during last week’s trial; although he speaks with a very heavy accent, Pineda appears to understand most of what is said, and answers questions quickly.
Pineda sat at the defense table with his head in his hands while the video played in the courtroom.
Others testified about inspections of the car after the accident, noting that the brakes were in working order.
Oakland County Deputy Michael Winkler of the Traffic Accident Crash Reconstruction Unit noted, among other evidence, considerable blue-paint transfer’the same color as D’Anna’s bike’on the car’s undercarriage.
Pineda’s attorney contended throughout the trial that Pineda was only trying to get his car off the rider he knew was underneath.
‘It’s not an unnatural reaction,? Escobedo said.
When the jury’s decision came, Escobedo said he’d hoped for a different outcome.
‘I’m disappointed with the verdict with in regard to second-degree murder,? Escobedo said. ‘I conceded to counts two, three, and five, so that didn’t come as a surprise at all. On count one, I was expecting involuntary manslaughter, but I respect the jury’s decision.?
Novy said the jury’s return of a verdict in under three hours wasn’t particularly unusual.
‘It’s probably on the quicker side,? he said. ‘But the jury knew the facts of the case, and they paid attention. The issue here was ‘was it manslaughter or was it second-degree murder?? The jury believed, based on evidence, that Pineda knowingly created a high risk of death or great bodily harm.?
Novy said he was pleased the jury’who was never told D’Anna was a police officer’agreed with his position.
‘I’m relieved,? he said. ‘I can’t bring Vince back’the only thing I can bring, hopefully, is some kind of closure.?
As with any conviction, Pineda has an automatic right to appeal. Escobedo said he will encourage his client to do so.