ST. GEORGE — After six days of testimony and closing arguments in the trial of defendant Julie Ann Budge, the jury returned a split verdict.

Budge, 48, was the driver who struck and killed two cyclists during an annual ride in Washington County in 2022.

She was facing two second-degree felony counts of automobile homicide, criminal negligence — DUI of alcohol/drugs, as well as two third-degree felony counts of leaving the scene of an accident involving death.

The jury returned after three-plus hours with a split verdict that found the defendant guilty of a lesser charge for each of the cyclists killed — two third-degree felony counts of automobile homicide negligence.

The trial opened Jan. 22, before  District Judge Donald J. Eyre Jr., a senior 4th District Court Judge who was appointed to hear the case. Budge was represented by Lindsay Jarvis and co-counsel Greg Law, two West Jordan attorneys, while the state was represented by prosecutors Zachary Weiland and Ryan Shaum.

The charges stem from an incident that took place on April 9, 2022, in which two brothers, Matthew Bullard and Adam Bullard, died after they were struck by a red 2004 Toyota Highlander that was found more than 1100 feet west of where the incident occurred.

The men were participating in the annual Spring Tour of St. George bicycle ride, along with their sons, both of whom were trailing behind their fathers.

Budge told responding officers she had several health issues and needed medical attention, adding she was taking several medications, according to charging documents filed with the courts. Budge also said she began defecating on herself shortly before the incident, causing her to swerve toward the side of the road where she claimed she did not see the two cyclists stopped on the shoulder.

Trial opens 

At the opening of the trial, Weiland said the state would prove that impairment was the primary cause of the crash, while the defense’s position was that Budge had suddenly defecated on herself while driving, which caused her to veer in a jerking motion.

The state also contended that Budge was trying to flee from the crash, while the defense’s position was that the SUV’s brakes were rendered inoperable when the vehicle lost power, which explained why the SUV was found nearly three football fields away from the point of impact following the crash. 

Testimony by responding officers 

Several officers took the stand, including Washington City Police Officer Scott Ray, who testified that he arrived at the scene and performed CPR on at least one of the cyclists prior to the ambulance arriving. Once additional officers responded and began securing the scene, Ray said he approached Budge, who was sitting in her SUV on the side of the road away from the incident.

While the defense noted that Ray failed to activate his body camera as soon as he exited his patrol vehicle and only activated it several minutes after arriving on scene, Weiland said Ray was administering CPR within seconds of arriving, showing that the officer’s focus was geared toward providing life-saving measures to the cyclists.

Washington City Police Lt. Matt Paige testified that Budge told him she had medical conditions and that she had defecated on herself, adding the defendant declined medical transport. She also told the officer she had a feeding tube.

Paige said Budge told him she had swerved and “hit the bikers” and then she pulled off the roadway. Page further testified that in his report he listed that Budge had irritable bowel syndrome, which he said was a term that came to mind when the defendant explained what happened.

Paige said he did not see any feces on the defendant’s clothing or on her person, she showed little emotion and appeared to be slurring her words. That statement was countered during cross-examination when Jarvis asked if her client was so unemotional, then why did the body camera footage show Budge crying when she saw the ambulance leave the scene?

Drug recognition experts and crash reconstruction 

St. George Police Officer Cody Painter, who took the stand as a trained drug recognition expert, discussed the field sobriety tests that were conducted at the scene, during which he said the defendant failed certain tasks within each of the exercises and failed other tests completely.

Painter added that Budge showed other physical signs consistent with impairment, including restricted pupils, dry mouth and relaxed facial muscles and speech, as well as confusion when asked to complete certain exercises.

He testified when he took Budge’s blood pressure at the scene it was 98 over 74, which is considered low, but her pulse was high, more than 120 beats per minute.

During cross exmination, the defense questioned Painter why there was no medical rule-out, which is an analysis to determine whether a driver is suffering from any health conditions that could have influenced the sobriety test or prevented her from completing the exercises. Painter said he did complete many of the tasks as mentioned, including blood pressure and heart rate checks. He also asked the driver if she had any health conditions that could have influenced the test. Following that, he said he proceeded to administer all of the testing that was certified by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

The defense contended that Painter should have done those exercises at the police station, where a complete drug recognition investigation should have been done. Instead, Jarvis said, the DRE arrived at the scene and spoke to several other officers who told him they suspected that the driver was impaired.

St. George Police Officer Dave McDaniel, who serves as a member of the accident reconstruction team, testified about the findings from the crash investigation, which revealed the collision started with a curb strike prior to the cyclists being struck by the SUV. He said the investigation indicated the defendant was traveling at 53 mph at impact. He went over the various measurements and data points collected from the scene and drone footage.

When asked during cross-examination why an accident reconstruction was not conducted, McDaniel said the crash took place in Washington City, which is outside the department’s jurisdiction. At that time, he said, Washington City did not have an accident reconstruction team. He also said an accident reconstruction can take months to complete and requires significant resources, so instead, he said he conducted an accident investigation.

Traffic safety experts and the SUV’s little black box

The state then called Earnest Edward Philips, a traffic safety investigator specializing in accident reconstruction, who said he retrieved the information stored in the Toyota’s Event Data Recorder, or EDR, which collects data relating to pre-crash vehicle dynamics and system status, as well as any driver inputs, restraint device usage or airbag deployment.

The Toyota had a first-generation module, he said, that collects data regarding vehicle speed, engine speed, accelerator angle and brake application. The analysis indicated that the Highlander was traveling at 53 mph four seconds before it struck the first object, which he said was the curb strike, followed by two separate collisions that were milliseconds apart, which represented the two cyclists.

He also said the module indicated the brakes were never applied.

During cross-examination, the defense asked if the data could have been from another crash or event that had nothing to do with the crash on Telegraph. To that, Philips said the module is designed to write over any old information with new information, similar to a black box on an aircraft.

The defense called Thomas J. Potter, an accident reconstruction specialist in collision forensics and engineering, who said the data recorder started capturing data 4.4 seconds prior to the first impact. What prompted the system was the impact with the riders, not the curb, Potter said, which reduced the SUV’s speed by three mph. After striking the riders at 53 mph, the brakes were applied at some point, but with a delay.

Even when the brakes were applied, they were no longer operational, since the SUV lost power after impact. There was also extensive damage to the battery and the alternator, which contributed to the complete loss of power. Those factors, he said, were what ultimately led to the SUV rolling along on an uphill grade for more than 1,100 feet until the loss of momentum brought the SUV to a stop.

Potter concluded the SUV had no power, so there would have been no power to the brake lights, as multiple witnesses had said. But the driver did apply brakes, adding the calculations indicated that Budge was braking, not fleeing the scene after the crash.

The toxicology results 

The report detected several substances in Budge’s system, including 25 nanograms of clonazepam and metabolite, which is inactive. The report also showed the presence of butalbital, which is also a barbiturate that can have a sedative effect, along with two medications prescribed to treat depression.

The state contended that together, those medications would likely have an increased effect, while the defense’s expert said the amount of medication detected would not be enough to impair the defendant. It also showed levels that were in the therapeutic range, indicating the patient had been on the medication for some time.

The defense asserted that once Budge said she had been administered fentanyl the previous day at the hospital, officers concluded she was impaired at the time of the crash. It wasn’t until the toxicology report showed no signs of fentanyl in her system that the state considered that other substances were in her system.

During cross, Shaum confirmed with the defense’s expert witness that both medications have a sedative effect. He asked if health, body size and combining the medications could impact how the the substances affected the patient, which possibly could have altered his analysis.

Either way, the witness said he was giving the court his opinion on what would be more likely to happen than not, and said that trauma, illness and other factors can be mistaken for impairment and can also affect the way a person performs during a field sobriety test.

Closing 

The defense’s position was that their client got distracted, veered off the road and hit the curb with the rear tire before striking the two cyclists. As soon as the SUV stopped, the traumatized driver then defecated on the side of the road.

“I understand how the officers made the assumption she must be drunk or on drugs and that she fled,” Jarvis said. “Even the  witness thought she was drunk or impaired and then realized she had some type of medical emergency.”

The expert witness told the jury what had happened to the SUV in the crash, Jarvis said, which was a summary that supported the driver’s claim that she was putting on the brakes, but they didn’t work.

Photos of the vehicle’s battery that was disconnected during impact and shoved into the alternator further supported the driver’s claims. Contrary to the state’s assertion, Jarvis said, without the alternator there’s no power for braking or power steering.

Jarvis went on to say her client was taking her medications as prescribed, had been on them for a long time and was not impaired at the time of the incident. The defense also asserted that once Budge said she had been administered fentanyl at the hospital the previous day, the officers concluded Budge was impaired at the time of the crash.

But it wasn’t until the toxicology report came back showing there was no fentanyl in her system that the state had to look at the other substances that were in her system at the time. That presumption was followed by a DRE that spent less than 12 minutes with the defendant and then he sent her to jail, Jarvis said.

Budge had an accident while driving when she defecated in her pants, and without a complete DRE report or an accident reconstruction, the state could not prove impairment.

“She is guilty of not staying in her lane — unequivocally, but she was not impaired,” Jarvis added.

Weiland said it was the state’s position was that Budge was impaired at the time of the crash, evidenced by the toxicology report that found four medications in her system, regardless of what the defense’s expert witness, who was paid $6,500 to testify, said on the stand.

The defendant didn’t just veer out of her lane, as the defense asserted, but she veered across both travel lanes and continued through the bikes before going completely off the road, the prosecutor said.

“She never even tried to stop,” Weiland said. “And it was only over time that her claims of having a medical emergency came up.”

To that, the prosecutor said there was no evidence supporting Budge’s claim that she veered off the road because she was defecating at the time of the crash — nothing was found at the jail or by officers at the scene, other than a golf-ball sized stain on the pants she was wearing when she was booked into jail.

He also conceded that mistakes were made during the investigation.

“It was a chaotic scene with a bike race still going on,” he said.

That did not take away from the fact that Budge failed all eight exercises during the field sobriety test, nor did it take away from the substances that were found in the toxicology report, including one, clonazepam, a depressant.

“Medications that caused her to be impaired at the time of this incident,” he stated.

Special verdict 

The jury was given four options for the negligent automobile homicide charge, the first being the two second-degree felony counts that were filed shortly after the arrest — one for each of the victims killed in the crash.

The second was a negligent automobile homicide charge, which they would have to find that Budge was negligent due to impairment. And the third was a negligent homicide charge without impairment as a factor, each of which are third-degree felonies. The final option was to find the defendant not guilty.

After closing arguments and receiving instructions, the jury began deliberations shortly before 2 p.m. Less than three hours later they returned with their split verdict.

Budge was found guilty of two third-degree felony counts of negligent automobile homicide charge, which included impairment. The defendant was also found guilty of reckless driving and failing to remain in her lane of travel, while the jury found her not guilty of two counts of leaving the scene of an accident resulting in death.

A sentencing hearing is scheduled for March 6 at 5th District Court in St. George. Until then, the defendant remains in custody in Washington County.

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