BOULDER COUNTY, Colo. — On the third day of Yeva Smilianska's trial on Wednesday, a pro-cyclist detailed the moments before, during and after 17-year-old Magnus White was struck and killed on Highway 119. The court also heard from several law enforcement witnesses who testified about Yeva Smilianska's phone records and the teen's injuries following the crash.
The defense for Smilianska said they do not dispute that she struck and killed Magnus, but rather they are arguing that she did not drive in a reckless manner, which is the charge she is facing. Because of this, Denver7 is not using the word "allegedly" when specifically discussing Smilianska striking Magnus.
Just about to start his senior year in high school, Magnus, a young and accomplished cyclist, headed out on the afternoon of July 29, 2023 for a training ride for the Junior Mountain Bike World Championships in Scotland. As he neared Highway 119 and N. 63rd Street in unincorporated Boulder County, he was struck from behind by a driver. He died of his injuries.
The investigation continued for about 20 weeks before the driver, identified as Yeva Smilianska, then 23, was arrested in December 2023. She is a refugee from Ukraine and fled to the United States to escape the war. Investigators wrote in an affidavit that they believe she fell asleep at the wheel when she struck the young bicyclist. She faces a charge of reckless vehicular homicide, which is a class 4 felony.
In May 2024, the White family filed a wrongful death lawsuit against Smilianska. The family also started a nonprofit called The White Line, which advocates for safer roads and tougher penalties for careless or reckless driving resulting in death, and helps young cyclists compete around the world.
Opening statements in Smilianska's jury trial began on the afternoon of March 31. You can read the recap from March 31 here and from April 1 here.
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Smilianska phone analysis
Court resumed Wednesday morning, continuing with the testimony of Colorado State Patrol Trooper Sean McCall. He worked with the Longmont Police Department to interview Smilianska's friend.
The woman told McCall that neither she nor Smilianska drank because she didn't allow alcohol in the house in response to questioning about Smilianska driving under the influence. However McCall said investigators also analyzed Smilianska's phone after the crash, finding evidence that she drank whiskey at the friend's house.
The friend told investigators the two went to bed at 5 a.m. and woke up at 11 a.m. the day of the crash as law enforcement tried to get a better idea of how sleep may have affected Smilianska's driving. McCall said investigators also found a partial text to that same friend on Smilianska's phone saying, "I'm falling asleep so I'm going home," roughly 19 minutes before the wreck.
Quintin Chiapperino was the second person to testify on Wednesday. He moved to Colorado approximately eight years ago to pursue pro cycling. When he lived in Boulder, he said he did intense training for cycling, but the crash caused him to stop riding. He now only works out in the gym he opened with his brother in Connecticut.
Chiapperino saw White on the day of the crash when Chiapperino was on a ride himself. He'd never met White before that day, but learned his name after what happened.
Chiapperino described July 29, 2023 — initially — as a "perfect day, couldn't ask for better." He first saw White when he made a left turn on N. 63rd Street. White ended up in front of Chiapperino, and he described Wednesday not wanting to pass White and "be that person," so he ended up following behind for a while.
"You can tell when someone's rock solid on the bike... wearing a USA cycling kit, you know he knows what he's doing," Chiapperino said.
He'd ridden Highway 119 often, but tended to avoid it because Chiapperino said cars drove so fast in close proximity. That day, he noticed Smilianska's car coming quickly and saw her hit the rear wheel of White's bike. Chiapperino said there's no chance that White could have seen the car coming.
He ran to White after the wreck to try and help in any way he could. Chiapperino saw so much blood coming out of White's mouth, he was worried White would choke.
Chiapperino said his immediate reaction was to find White's parents or anyone who knew him, so Chiapperino went to White's bike and saw his Boulder Junior Cycling sticker and started making calls. He knew people who could have known the family members.
Michael and Jill White cried during Chiapperino's testimony.
"I think I passed out."
He said Smilianska came over and asked what happened, and told him, "I think I passed out."
The trial took its morning break at 10:35 a.m.
When court resumed, Dr. Daniel Lingamfelter took the witness stand. He's a forensic pathologist and determines causes and manners of death.
Dr. Lingamfelter shared White's external injury reports, including abrasions, skin scrapes, bruises around White's right eye. There were also internal injuries to White's head. White was wearing a white helmet. A picture was shown in the trial with the left side of the helmet coated in blood.
The only thing in White's system at the time was caffeine.
The fourth witness to take the stand Wednesday was Kristin Weisbach with more information on analysis of Smilianska's phone.
A new video was presented, showing Smilianska with the previously mentioned friend wearing a raccoon shirt and vape pen around her neck. Smilianska was seen in the video taking a drink out of a black tumbler, and her friend asks, "Is that whiskey?" Smilianska audibly says "yes," visibly nods in the video and her friend takes the tumbler to drink from it too.
This is contrary to what Smilianska told investigators about her alcohol use.
The court took a lunch break at 11:54 a.m.
Smilianska "made a conscious decision to drive her car despite the lack of sleep"
After the lunch break, prosecutors called Michael Stogsdill, an expert witness in crash reconstruction who left the Longmont Police Department nearly 10 years ago to start his own business.
He told prosecutors that, based on his investigation, Smilianska's vehicle, at some point, drifted into the right shoulder, striking Magnus. At impact, he said, Smilianska's vehicle was going about 55 to 60 miles per hour when it hit Magnus from behind.
Stogsdill said he estimated Magnus experienced a change in speed on his bike from 25 mph to 55 mph in milliseconds, based on how the speed of Smilianska's vehicle at the time of the crash.
Smilianska did not brake or swerve before or after hitting Magnus as the woman "was not awake at the time of the collision," Stogsdill said, adding he concluded Smilianska "drove recklessly that day and that's what led to Magnus being killed."
Court then went on its afternoon break and was expected to be back by 3 p.m.
After the afternoon recess, the defense called forth Sarah Urfer, an expert witness in forensic psychology, who spoke on her years of experience training law enforcement officers on how to identify signs of impairment.
Questioning centered around how long it would take someone to clear certain amounts of alcohol from their system, given Smilianska's claim she had been drinking the night before the crash.
"Alcohol can produce drowsiness— a central nervous system depressant," Urfer said. "Sleep is different than passing out — it's a state of unconsciousness, not sleep," she told a lawyer for the prosecution in the re-direct.
Urfer said it was her expert opinion Smilianska "was not driving under the influence at 12:30 p.m.," and said this opinion was backed by the fact that law enforcement at the scene did not observe signs of impairment.
Urfer was then excused from the stand. Stogsdill was called back.
The crash reconstruction expert testified that there was no indication from a mechanical inspection of Smilianska's vehicle that the vehicle had faults that would cause the crash.
"Everything connected properly... the steering wheel had free movement, (and there was) nothing blocking it," Stogsdill said, adding there was "nothing to attribute a contributing mechanical failure."
Stogsdill also countered claims made by Smilianska in the past that she tried to brake before and after the crash. Based on information gathered at the crash scene, "that's not true," he said.
In cross-examination from the defense, Stogsdill said he used information provided to him by the Colorado State Patrol to make his analysis and his assessment and did not do his own mechanical inspection. He also said he was hired after the CSP had completed their report.
In the re-direct, lawyers for the prosecution said Stogsdill didn't take any extra pictures of the crash site, "because there were no questions about speed, his independent analysis was more on the driver effects." The prosecution added that he had "a significant amount" of pictures to conduct his investigation.
Stogsdill ultimately concluded, prosecutors said, that Smilianska driving recklessly led to Magnus' death.
Court is expected to be back Thursday for more witness statements.
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