After a week of hearing details of how she dragged a toddler to his death beneath her truck, Lazara Arellano de Hogue on Friday finally had the chance to defend herself.
But the woman accused of fatally dragging 3-year-old Elijah Cozart for about a mile in Towson last December chose not to testify. Her attorneys didn?t call a single witness.
Instead, they asked Baltimore County Circuit Judge John Hennegan to dismiss all charges against their client, arguing that the state?s evidence showed no malice in Arellano de Hogue?s actions on Dec. 1, 2006 when she struck Marjorie Thomas, 55, who was pushing her grandson in a stroller across a busy Goucher Boulevard intersection.
“It was just impossible to avoid hitting her,” said defense attorney Diane Goldsmith. “? She had no knowledge there was a baby in there.”
Hennegan threw out two minor driving charges ? failure to control speed to avoid an accident; and failure to exercise care to avoid striking a pedestrian ?but allowed 10 charges to stand, including the most serious: vehicular manslaughter.
Thomas, who says she doesn?t remember the accident, testified she suffered a broken leg and wrist after the pickup truck struck her and Elijah.
According to one witness, Thomas repeatedly called out for Elijah while lying on the ground: “My grandson. My grandson. Where is my grandson?”
Goldsmith attempted to minimize Thomas? injuries Friday, calling them “not serious.”
But prosecutor Allan Webster said it?s not Arellano de Hogue?s actions before the crash that matter: It?s what she did afterwards.
“It?s not a defense to put your hands over your ears and ignore something,” Webster said. “? A person who strikes a stroller cannot just continue on.”
Closing arguments are scheduled for Monday morning at 9:30. A Mexican immigrant, Arellano de Hogue is receiving Spanish translation of the trial by headset.
