Warren Earl Christopher's Trial Begins March 19th. 2007

Warren E. Christopher sat quietly at the defense table Monday in county court on the first day of his trial for vehicular homicide.

A wooden cane lay against his outstretched, injured leg, a reminder of the July 11, 2004, crash in which the vehicle Christopher was driving with passenger Mark King collided with the Elk Lick Township Police Chief Sheridan O. Caton's police cruiser on Listonburg Road in Addison Township.

Caton, 60, died at the scene of multiple blunt force trauma. Christopher and King were flown to two different hospitals, according to trial testimony.

King testified that he and Christopher had been drinking that night. They had a beer at King's home and then two or three at a bar in Confluence. The two men were on the way to another bar in Addison when the crash occurred. Christopher's blood-alcohol level was 0.18, more than twice the legal limit, according to a police report.

King said he asked Christopher if he wanted him to drive.

“He said, ‘Why, am I going too fast? I'll slow down,'” King said.

Just as Christopher slowed down, King said he noticed headlights coming toward them that appeared to be in their lane.

“I grabbed at the steering wheel. I had no time. We impacted. I blacked out,” he said.

When he came to, he looked over at Christopher slumped over the steering wheel.

“I thought he was dead,” he said.

Then he saw flames through the windshield. Later, he was flown to Memorial Medical Center in Johnstown, where he was treated for a broken clavicle, disk problem and a couple of broken toes. Christopher was flown to Ruby Memorial Hospital in Morgantown, W.Va. He broke both ankles and his left arm, suffered a concussion and had three steel rods inserted in his left leg, according to published reports.

Two law enforcement officers testified about the crash. Police Officer Richard Good and state police Trooper Donald Szarmach were visibly shaken, often having to take time to compose themselves while testifying about the night their friend and fellow officer died.

Good testified he was several miles behind Caton on Route 523 - both on a call to assist a fellow officer, Confluence Police Officer Tom Keller - when the crash occurred. In 2004, Good was police chief of Summit Township Police Department. Keller had informed them that he was no longer in pursuit of the suspect and that they could slow down.

Good said Caton warned him about deer crossing the road that night and advised him to slow down even more for sharp curves ahead moments before he lost radio contact with the veteran police chief. Good said communication in that area can be poor.

It took a little while for him to realize that his mentor was part of the crash scene he came upon a few seconds later.

He was concerned with Christopher's vehicle because it was on fire and Christopher was still inside, he said. He saw the white cruiser with the Elk Lick Township Police emblem on the side. “Metal surrounded his whole body. His arm was sticking out. I checked for a pulse. There was none,” he said.

Szarmach assisted a reconstructionist and a photographer at the scene of the crash. Both are scheduled to testify later in the trial.

During opening statements before a jury of nine men and five women, including alternates, the district attorney's office and the defense team described the foundation for their respective cases.

“This case is about a lethal combination of alcohol, excess of speed limit and crossing the center line that caused a motor vehicle collision in which Police Chief Sheridan Caton was killed,” District Attorney Jerry Spangler said

Defense attorney R.B. Manchester countered that there are some “crucial factual differences that will be significant in the outcome of the case.”

Besides the more serious charge of vehicular homicide, Christopher also faces charges of aggravated assault by vehicle, driving while under the influence and six related summary offenses.

The trial is scheduled to continue tomorrow at 9:30 a.m.

Christopher Found Guilty

A jury convicted Warren E. Christopher of vehicular homicide in connection with the death of Elk Lick Township Police Chief Sheridan O. Caton.

After deliberating for one-and-a-half hours Wednesday evening, the jury found Christopher, 42, formerly of Confluence, guilty of homicide by vehicle, aggravated assault by vehicle and driving while under the influence of alcohol. President Judge John M. Cascio also found Christopher guilty of multiple summary traffic violations.

He could receive from three to 10 years in prison for the two more serious crimes of homicide by vehicle and aggravated assault by vehicle, District Attorney Jerry Spangler said.

The jury did the right thing, he said, commending the group's ability to deliberate over a case that dealt with complicated legal issues.

“Personally, this is a gratifying verdict to me,” he said. “I worked with Sheridan Caton since 1978. He was well respected and beloved.”

Caton, 60, died almost immediately after his police cruiser was struck nearly head-on in his lane of travel by Christopher's car July 11, 2004, near the intersection of Lenhart Hill Road and Listonburg Road in Addison Township, according to testimony. Christopher was speeding, traveling somewhere between 76 and 82 mph, and he was legally drunk.

On the night of his death, Caton was on the back roads in southern Somerset County responding to a non-emergency call for assistance from Confluence Officer Tom Keller.

Former Summit Township Police Chief Richard Good also responded to Keller's call. In fact, he and his mentor, Caton, and Keller had been helping one another all evening long.

A short time before the crash, the veteran police officer spent some time on the radio trying to help Good navigate a rural area he was not familiar with so he could help assist Keller. He warned Good to be on the lookout for deer and to slow down for sharp curves ahead.

Good lost contact with Caton. Police communication was bad in the area and he did not think anything of it at the time, he said.

Only moments behind Caton, Good was the first officer on the scene of the accident.

He testified at the trial. He also sat as an observer for three days of testimony.

“Justice was served today,” Good said. “They took into consideration all the evidence, and a good man's name was kept whole.

“Sheridan is not gone,” he added. “There are officers on the street who have lessons taught by him that they still use today.”

Caton's daughter, Roxanne Knopsnyder, sat among more than two dozen family members and friends and police officers who worked with her father. The supportive group had attended all three days of the trial.

When the verdict was announced, she cried and then smiled softly like many of those around her.

“Dad fought for the justice system all of his adult life. It has treated him fairly. Justice has been served,” Knopsnyder said.

Christopher, who appeared to have no supporters in the courtroom during the three-day trial, did not say anything after the verdict was read. He ran his hand over his tearful face and slipped out of the courthouse.

“This was a difficult case. It was a complex case with the death involved.” said defense attorney R. Bruce Manchester. “Incredible justice. The court was very fair. Spangler was very fair.”

Spangler said the facts were straightforward. Christopher, with a blood-alcohol level of 0.18 percent, drove into the opposite lane at between 76 and 82 mph and caused the collision that resulted in the police chief's death. Caton was driving between 29 and 34 mph when the two vehicles collided, according to testimony by reconstructionists for both the commonwealth and defense.

Manchester said the most difficult decision the jury had to make was if Caton contributed to the collision.

Spangler did not see it that way. Neither did Caton's friends or fellow officers.

State police Trooper Donald A. Szarmach, who investigated the accident and was a witness at the trial, was amazed by the outpouring of affection for Caton from the community and fellow officers. After the verdict, Szarmach talked of how he grew to respect a man he had never met while that man was alive.

“Any gratification (from the guilty verdict) is negated by the fact he is still dead,” Szarmach said.

Only one person testified Wednesday, Dr. Harry Kamerow, a pathologist for Centre Pathology Associates. His testimony was followed by closing arguments.

Christopher's sentencing is scheduled for June 12.