st. paul

A minor bombshell exploded Tuesday afternoon in the Koua Fong Lee hearing when a defense expert testified that Lee's 1996 Toyota Camry had an anti-lock braking system, contradicting testimony from a prosecution expert during Lee's 2007 trial who said the car didn't have an ABS.

The presence of an ABS would help explain why no skid marks were found at the scene of a horrific crash that eventually took three lives. Prosecutors said at the trial that the lack of skid marks proved that Lee was not braking when he slammed into the back of an Oldsmobile Ciera in June 2006.

Lee is serving an eight-year sentence for criminal vehicular homicide. His appeal got underway after news broke of the widespread recall of newer Toyota models because of problems including sudden unintended acceleration.

Lee's Camry was not part of any recall. But after media reports on the case, dozens of people with older-model Camrys contacted his attorney, Brent Schafer, to say they had experienced sudden acceleration.

On Day 2 of the hearing in Ramsey County District Court that will determine whether Lee is granted a new trial, defense attorney Bob Hilliard showed photos of the Camry's engine to Sam Sero, a forensic engineer from Pittsburgh who said he has 20 years of accident investigation experience.

Sero used a laser pointer to trace a rectangular silver device that he said was the ABS module. At the trial, Michael Churchich, a mechanic for the city of St. Paul who examined the car after the crash, testified that the Camry had no ABS.

Sero said he is convinced that the Camry experienced sudden unintended acceleration. He also testified that Lee sideswiped a Toyota Solera before hitting the Oldsmobile. Reports and testimony from four accident reconstructionists and officers at the scene said Lee hit the Oldsmobile first, then the Solera. The order of impact is important because of the speed that prosecution experts said the car was moving when it hit the Olds.

Sero said the Camry's left rear brake light filament broke during the impact with the Solera. That's more proof, he said, that Lee was trying to brake when he hit the Olds.

Under cross-examination by Assistant County Attorney Mark Lystig, Sero said no, he did not personally examine the Camry or go to the accident scene. And, yes, he does disagree with all four of the law enforcers who say Lee hit the Oldsmobile first.

Lee was driving his wife, their 4-year-old daughter, his brother and his father home from church on June 10, 2006, when he took the Snelling Avenue exit off eastbound Interstate 94. He testified that the car seemed to slow on the slight incline of the ramp, but then it accelerated. He dodged other cars before slamming into the Olds and killing its driver, Javis Adams Sr., 33, Adams' son, Javis Jr., and ultimately, his 7-year-old niece Devyn Bolton.

Two other people who owned nearly identical '96 Camrys also testified Tuesday about sudden acceleration.

Judith Poss, of Wrenshall, Minn., said she was driving her Camry wagon in the winter of 2007 when the car accelerated up to 80 miles per hour. She was standing on the brake with both feet and noticed smoke coming from the car, she said.

"I was panicking, I didn't know what to do," she said. "It seemed as though the harder I pushed the brakes, the faster it wanted to accelerate."

Finally, she turned the car off and got to the side of the road. It happened again when her husband came to fetch the car, she said, and a third time after he cleaned the throttle plate.

Ronald Neumeister, a pilot for Sun Country Airlines and the Minnesota National Guard, said his Camry has accelerated on several occasions. Each time, said Neumeister of Sauk Rapids, he put the car in neutral and then turned it off.

Cross-examination of Sero will continue Wednesday.

Pat Pheifer • 612-741-4992