Jury acquits Independence man in fatal car crash

INDEPENDENCE, Mo. -- An Independence man who had two previous drunken driving convictions was acquitted of killing another motorist during an accident two years ago.

A Jackson County jury on Friday found Michael Coots, 51, innocent of either second-degree murder or second-degree assault after a trial in which expert witnesses disagreed about who was driving his car the night of the accident.

This was Coots' second trial. The first, in May, resulted in a hung jury when one juror was not convinced that Coots was the driver.

After the verdict was read Friday, Coots' family cried while relatives of the victim -- Michael McGhghy of Independence -- stormed out of the courtroom.

The defense had argued that prosecutors were pursuing the wrong man. Defense attorney Steve Mirakian said he had believed from the start that his client was innocent.

Prosecutors said Coots was driving drunk Aug. 24, 2001, with a blood-alcohol level of 0.219 percent.

Authorities estimated that Coots' vehicle was going at least 72 mph in a 25 mph zone when it struck a Ford Probe, killing McGhghy. Coots car rotated clockwise while one occupant -- James Ashworth -- was thrown 40 feet through the driver's side door.

When the Chevy stopped spinning, Coots was lying halfway out of the driver's door, with his feet wedged under the pedals. A third occupant was unhurt.

Authorities reconstructed the wreck and aconcluded that Coots was driving and that Ashworth was riding in the back seat. Ashworth testified under immunity that Coots was the driver.

However, a doctor hired by the defense said Coots' injuries indicated he was the front-seat passenger. And through the process of elimination, she also deduced that Ashworth was the driver.

The defense said Ashworth had to agree that Coots was the driver because Coots' car insurance had paid Ashworth $25,000 for his injuries. If Ashworth ever acknowledged that he was the driver, he would be accused of insurance fraud, the defense argued.

Ashworth is "going to get away with murder, and he's going to get paid," Mirakian said.

The third occupant never testified in the trial.

"Mr. Coots, there is a guardian angel flying above," Judge Vernon Scoville III told Coots on Friday. "I think you should give up drinking."

McGhghy left behind a wife and three children.