Defense expert testifies that he does not believe Noah Motto's truck struck, killed teen

An accident reconstructionist testifying for the defense in Noah Motto’s vehicular homicide trial Monday said he did not believe the defendant's truck struck Ericka Dane.

Motto, 23, is charged in Dane's death, who was his girlfriend at the time. He is on trial charged with leaving the scene of a crash with death and vehicular homicide/fail to give aid or information, both first-degree felonies. He is being held at the Volusia County Branch Jail.

Circuit Judge Raul Zambrano on Monday asked Motto whether he wished to testify or remain silent.

"I'll remain silent," Motto said.

The defense rested its case.

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The fatal crash happened at about 2:30 a.m. on March 24, 2021, at Greenvale Drive and Ormond Green Boulevard, down the street from 18-year-old Dane's house in Ormond Beach, prosecutors said.

Earlier in the night, the couple and some friends purchased alcohol and went to a bonfire. Afterward, Dane wanted Motto to spend the night at her home. Motto declined, got in his black Chevrolet Silverado pickup and drove way.

Dane walked down the street to wait for him at the intersection he had to pass through. When he drove up to the intersection, a home security video shows her approaching the truck before he drove off.

The video shows Dane's body in the street. It also shows her mother arriving to find her body on the pavement.

Volusia County Medical Examiner James Fulcher testified last week that he believed Dane was hit by Motto’s truck and propelled forward. He said he saw injuries on her thigh that suggested she was hit by something that was rotating, most likely a tire.

Defense witness: Ericka Dane's injuries came from falling as she ran after pickup

Motto’s defense team has called witnesses to try to counter that testimony. Defense attorneys last week called to the stand Stephen Nelson, the chief medical examiner for the 10th Judicial Circuit, who testified he didn’t believe the truck hit Dane.

And on Monday, defense attorney Lily McCarty called to the stand Christopher Stewart, a mechanical engineer and accident reconstructionist.

Stewart said that, based on his review of the case, he did not think that Dane was hit by the truck.

He said he believed Dane’s injuries, which included injuries to the back of her head, spinal cord, the front of her face, a thigh, and one of her buttocks, were caused when she fell to the asphalt as she ran after the truck.

“Based on my review, I don’t think Ms. Dane ever made contact with the truck,” Stewart said.

Stewart testified that Dane reached a maximum speed of 14 mph as she ran alongside the truck.

At that point she began to lag behind as the truck continued to speed up.

Dane fell, twisted over and came to final rest on her back, Stewart said.

Stewart said it was possible for a person to sprint that fast for a short distance.

McCarty asked him if Dane was an athlete and Stewart said yes.

Dane played soccer for Daytona State College.

Stewart testified that the truck's tires were 2 feet, 9 inches tall and extended nearly 5 inches from the truck body.

Stewart said he did not believe that Dane grabbed a door handle, because doing so would have whipped her body toward the vehicle, and she would have been run over by the right rear tire.

During cross examination, Assistant State Attorney Kevin Sullivan asked Stewart whether his analysis showed that at one point Dane was accelerating nearly as fast as Motto’s Chevrolet Silverado. Stewart said yes.

Sullivan asked him whether he was saying that there was no way Dane could have come in contact with the rear tire without being run over. Stewart said that anything was possible, but that he did not believe she came in contact with the truck or was run over.

Sullivan also displayed photos of the truck taken by Stewart. The photos showed a dirty passenger side window and a dirty outside rearview mirror. Sullivan said that Stewart picked a photograph from a side view to show the rear window of the truck.

Sullivan asked Stewart why he chose each photo. Stewart said he chose them to show the condition of the windows and the driver's point of view.

Sullivan displayed a photo of the rear window of the truck, but taken from the side, not straight from the back.

Sullivan said there was a photo of the rear window of the pickup’s cab that showed you could see through it. Sullivan pointed out Stewart had not selected that one.

Sullivan asked Stewart how much were his fees. Stewart replied that it was just under $30,000.

Defense questions integrity of DNA samples

Motto’s defense on Monday morning also focused on how touch DNA samples were handled in the case. An FDLE analyst testified that Dane’s DNA was found on a sample police said they took from the right rear tire of Motto’s truck.

But defense attorneys have focused on testimony that the DNA sample was left unsealed in an evidence room at the Volusia County Sheriff’s Office until a day after it was collected. The defense has also presented testimony that Dane’s stepmother worked at the sheriff’s office.

Assistant State Attorney Erica Kane has countered with testimony that while the actual paper bag holding an envelope with the DNA samples was left unsealed overnight, it was still locked inside an evidence room only accessible with a key card or key. She also called a witness who said that the stepmother was not part of the sheriff's office crime scene team when the incident occurred.

Closing arguments in Motto's case

In his closing argument, Sullivan said that the pair had a fight and tempers were high. Dane saw Motto’s truck stop and thought she could approach him. She was trying to talk to him when he punched the gas and accelerated, Sullivan said.

“He made these decisions. For better or worse these are decisions he made. And Ericka Dane is dead because of them,” Sullivan said.

He said that Stewart wanted jurors to believe that Dane could run at world-class speed. Sullivan also said that Dane was intoxicated, which would affect her motor skills, including running.

He played an enhanced video of Dane along the truck as it accelerated and then it shows her falling to the ground.

“She either hung on to the handle or got hung up on it and was pulled by the truck,” Sullivan said.

He said that her DNA was found on the right rear tire of the truck.

McCarty argued during her closing argument that Dane’s death was a tragedy and retribution and punishment were not necessary.

She said that prosecutors had not proven that Dane had come in contact with Motto’s truck. She said if jurors did not believe she had touched the truck, then the verdict should be not guilty. She said that the state’s own witness, Fulcher, said that he could not say from the state’s video whether or not she had touched the truck.

She also said prosecutors had not proven that Motto knew that anything had happened to Dane. While prosecutors said you could see through the back window, McCarty said they were not accounting for the fact that while Motto was driving off, another truck was driving into the neighborhood and passing behind him. She said that truck obscured Motto’s view of Dane on the road.

McCarty said the case was riddled with reasonable doubt.

She said nothing supports recklessness. Motto did not speed as he drove away, he did not serve, she said.

The jury begins deliberations Tuesday morning.

This article originally appeared on The Daytona Beach News-Journal: Ormond Beach man doesn't testify in vehicular homicide trial