Driver in Murder Trial : Throttle Stuck Prior to Fatal Crash, Expert Says

A defense witness testified Wednesday that the accelerator on James Benjamin Masoner’s car jammed before the car crashed into a house near Universal City and killed a sleeping 4-year-old girl in March.

Masoner, 47, is being tried in Los Angeles Superior Court on charges of second-degree murder, vehicular manslaughter and felony drunk driving in the crash a block from his home. Masoner, who was convicted in 1982 of driving while intoxicated, has pleaded not guilty.

The prosecution is arguing that after two associates, who thought Masoner was too drunk to drive, took him in his car to a point near his home, Masoner took the wheel of his car and drove away, crashing into the house a few moments later.

Jessica Shaner was killed when the 1983 Chevrolet Camaro crashed into the house in the 3800 block of Broadlawn Drive in the hills south of Universal City on March 4.

Focus on Throttle

Testimony in Judge Florence T. Pickard’s courtroom Tuesday and Wednesday centered on the assembly of the throttle system on Masoner’s car. Prosecution witnesses have told the jury that the car’s impact with the house caused the throttle to jam. But the defense is pointing to the throttle, which was discovered caught behind a dislodged steering cable after the crash.

Marc Pryor, an engineer with Collision Research & Analysis of Redondo Beach, a traffic safety research firm, told the jury that marks on the cable indicated that, for some unexplained reason, the cable was not shielded from the throttle--as it is supposed to be--by a metal guard. The marks also indicated that the cable was free of the guard and was in contact with the throttle “for a long period of time,” Pryor testified.

‘Existed Prior to Impact’

“This stuck throttle condition appeared and existed prior to impact and wasn’t significantly altered after the impact,” Pryor said while being questioned by defense attorney Thomas M. Byrne.

Masoner told police after the accident that the car accelerated uncontrollably down a hill and into the Shaner house despite his having both feet on the brakes.

Byrne brought into the courtroom an actual dashboard, throttle and steering assembly cut from a 1983 Camaro. Pryor referred to the item occasionally. He showed the jury numerous enlarged photographs that he said demonstrated how the cable marks indicated that the accelerator was jammed before impact.

Pryor further contradicted the testimony of prosecution experts when he said there was “no significant damage” to the panel between the car’s passenger compartment and the engine. Prosecution witness Charles F. Plemons, a private auto safety consultant from South Pasadena, said damage to the panel was the most likely cause of the throttle system being found jammed after the accident.

Earlier in the trial, Masoner’s business associate, Daniel W. Monnin of Chicago, testified that when he was driving Masoner’s car from a business reception on Wilshire Boulevard to Masoner’s neighborhood, he noticed no accelerator problems.

Deputy Dist. Atty. John K. Spillane suggested during cross-examination that it was Masoner’s repeated depression of his foot on the gas pedal, not a previously dislodged cable, that could have made marks on the steering cable noted by Pryor.

In response, Pryor said: “What you’re talking about is very unlikely to ever occur.”

Spillane is expected to resume his cross-examination when the trial resumes Monday morning.