CAMBRIDGE, Ill. — Day three of the Daylon Richardson trial continued Wednesday with testimony from two members of the Illinois State Police. Richardson is the man accused of hitting and killing Knox County Sheriff's Deputy Nicholas Weist in late April 2022.
The first witness for the state was Jeff Thew, a crime scene investigator with the Illinois State Police. Most of his testimony concerned how he collected evidence and what he saw at the scene. He pointed out in photos bullet entry and exit points on Richardson's car. Thew also took photos during his documentation finding three bullet casings in the car.
The state's attorney showed photos of the spike strips that Weist was setting up. Thew noted that there were six spikes missing from the strip that were lodged in Richardson's tire.
Henry County States Attorney Catherine Runty also read testimony from two forensic scientists with the Illinois State Police. One stated that through a fingerprint analysis, they were able to match a fingerprint on an ammunition magazine found on scene to Richardson's fingerprint. Another forensic scientist analyzed DNA on a handgun.
The other witness Wednesday was Sgt. Paul Kuhn, a member of Illinois State Police's traffic reconstruction unit.
For the first time Wednesday, spectators saw photos of the damage to Richardson's Ford Taurus. Kuhn said it was damaged from hitting a metal delineator post as it went into the ditch, as well as Weist. The hood of the car was scratched and there was also fabric from Weist's clothing transferred onto it.
Through his analysis, he tracked the path that Richardson took approaching Weist and the point of impact of the crash.
"What was the distance from the point of impact to the point of rest for Deputy Weist?" Runty asked Kuhn.
"It was approximately 127 feet," Kuhn said.
Much of his testimony was about the tire tracks he observed from the Ford Taurus. Runty asked if he would consider them "typical or regular tire marks."
"These tire marks have more of a curve to them, which is more indicative of these tires that they're rotating at the time and they're not skidding at the time," Kuhn said. "They're not skidding marks. Skidding marks would be, would happen when somebody would apply the brake dramatically."
He said, in his opinion of how the crash occurred, Richardson was driving North on U.S. 150.
"The vehicle exited the roadway to the right, crossed over the gravel shoulder, entered a kind of grassy area to the right of the gravel shoulder," Kuhn said. "The vehicle then crossed over the gravel shoulder, reentered the left lane and then began... turned the steering wheel to the right, at which point the Ford struck Deputy Weist."
Defense Attorney Bruce Carmen argued in his cross examination of Kuhn that there are many factors that influence reaction time and it's possible Richardson was driving so fast that he didn't have time to react to avoid hitting Weist.
"A little more than a second to respond, is it possible he just couldn't do it?" Carmen said.
He also asked Kuhn if it's possible Richardson lost control of the vehicle. Kuhn said while yes it is possible, he did not believe that was the case here.