Driver convicted of capital murder in deadly crash at South By Southwest festival in Texas

AUSTIN, Texas – A jury on Friday found a driver guilty of capital murder in a crash that killed four people last year at the South by Southwest festival in Austin.

The Austin American-Statesman (http://atxne.ws/1S3CoDR ) reports the Travis County jury returned with the verdict against 23-year-old Rashad Owens after a little more than three hours of deliberation. About 50 people had crowded into the courtroom to hear the verdict.

The verdict means Owens will automatically spend the rest of his life in prison without the possibility of parole. To find him guilty of capital murder, jurors had to unanimously agree Owens intentionally or knowingly caused the death of two or more people when he drove into the crowd. Prosecutors did not seek the death penalty.

Owens was on trial after being charged with capital murder and four counts of felony murder.

In closing arguments Friday, prosecutor Amy Meredith told jurors to not talk about Owens’ intent, but to focus on how he was aware his conduct could be deadly. She said an officer had been trying to conduct a simple traffic stop when Owens refused to comply and fled.

Meredith told jurors that Owens had the wherewithal to turn on his blinker, manoeuvr his way around a gas station and swerve around a parked car in his way.

“There is no other answer than that the defendant knew what he was doing — and he didn’t care,” Meredith said. “He didn’t care who was in his way. He was not going to be stopped. He was not going to go to jail.”

Detective Richard Harrington, a crash reconstruction expert with Austin police, testified that surveillance footage captured Owens’ car travelling about 55 mph as he fled from the traffic stop and approached the festival crowd.

Defence lawyers Russell Hunt and Rick Jones described Owens as a young rapper from the small town of Killeen who had been unfamiliar with Austin and had not meant to kill anyone as he fled police. They said he likely did not know the street had been closed off to traffic when he sped down it without headlights on.

“We don’t know at what point Mr. Owens perceived what was in front of him,” Jones said. “We don’t know what time he had to react.”

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Information from: Austin American-Statesman, http://www.statesman.com