Jonathan “Jack” McCaffery of North Liberty reportedly could not have “slowed, stopped, or yielded,” in the incident of a fatal crash, according to testimony from an Iowa City police officer Ryan Schnackel during a Johnson County bench trial on Tuesday.
Jack McCaffery was charged after a crash on May 22 at the intersection of Melrose Avenue and Kennedy Parkway in west Iowa City that resulted in the death of Corey Hite, 45, an Iowa National Guard Sgt. First Class from Cedar Rapids.
He is being tried for failing to yield to a pedestrian right of way, a simple misdemeanor, and a traffic offense. Jack McCaffery is the teenage son of Iowa Men’s Basketball head coach Fran McCaffery and was not present at the nearly three-hour trial on Tuesday after a judge waived his right to appear in court for the charges.
A verdict is expected to be entered electronically by Sixth Judicial District Magistrate Mark Neary later this week.
RELATED: Jonathan McCaffery named as driver responsible for the fatal accident on May 22
Hite, who was jogging during the incident, was severely injured following the collision, which occurred shortly after 4 p.m. He was taken to the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics where he remained in a coma until he died two weeks after the accident on June 4, according to a news release from Iowa City police.
Witnesses described the details of the crash to the judge. Jonathan Brentner, an Iowa City resident, testified that when Hite was struck he “saw him flying in the air.”
Cherie White, of Cedar Rapids and the mental health advocate for Johnson County, also testified as a witness to the crash.
White ran up to Hite after he was hit, and reportedly yelled to Jack McCaffery to get something to apply pressure to Hite’s head before medical help arrived. She sat with Jack McCaffery until his parents arrived at the crash site.
“I don’t know if there was anything he could have done to prevent the accident,” White said.
Lynn Wright, an Iowa City postal carrier, testified that she was in a mail truck waiting behind another car at the crosswalk next to the intersection of Melrose Avenue and Kennedy Parkway when the car in front of Wright waved at Hite, signaling for him to cross.
Wright said Hite allegedly started to jog across the busy road and saw Jack McCaffery in his vehicle approaching in the left lane, westbound on Melrose Avenue.
“He started jogging across and he never stopped and looked to see if there was any cars coming in the left lane,” Wright said with tears in her eyes during her testimony on Tuesday. “[McCaffery] hit the brakes when he was hitting the guy but it was too late.”
Schnackel testified that during his investigation into the crash, he concluded that Jack McCaffery could not have reacted to Hite entering his lane in time to “slow, stop, or yield” to Hite.
Prosecutors played a recording of the 911 call that Jack McCaffery made after colliding with Hite. Prosecutors also played a recording of body cam footage interviewing him. Jack McCaffery claimed that he could not see him until it was already too late.
The police investigation concluded that Jack McCaffery wasn’t using his phone and was not under the influence of drugs and alcohol.
Prosecutors argued that despite the mail truck possibly obstructing his view Jack McCaffery was still guilty under the letter of the law which requires that drivers yield to pedestrians even if they don’t know they are there.
The site of the accident on Melrose had two warning signs ahead of the crosswalk to warn drivers of the crosswalk at the intersection of Melrose Avenue and Kennedy Parkway, according to testimony from Iowa City City Planner Kent Ralston.
