On Tuesday lawyers gave their opening statements in the trail for a 2013 Roaring Fork Transportation Authority bus crash.
Four lawyers painted a different picture of the night of October 26th, 2013, when the RFTA bus driven by Jaime Nunez, crashed into a cement barrier off Highway 82.
Jeff Wertz, lead counsel for the passengers suing RFTA says that all three defendants are to blame for his clients’ injuries. He says Nunez, along with Travis Wingfield, the driver of a tractor that Nunez swerved to avoid, and Ted Potter the owner of the tractor, all share in the hazardous situation on the highway.
Gordon Vaughn spoke on behalf of Nunez, saying he is faultless in the situation, and pointed the blame to Wingfield and Potter who he says did not maintain the visibility requirements of the tractor, and used poor judgement in transporting the slow-moving machinery on the highway in the dark.
Potter and Wingfield are being individually represented. The two friends are ranchers in the Valley. Wingfield was borrowing Potter’s tractor and was on his way back to return it when the bus crash occurred.
The trial continues this week. Prosecution will be calling up the injured passengers from the night of the crash while defense attorneys will be bringing up “visibility” experts and questioning the order of events leading up to the accident.
