This Case Pisses Me Off So Much..

CAPE MAY COURT HOUSE, New Jersey–Prosecutors are expected to call the detective who questioned New Jersey State Trooper Robert Higbee two weeks after a fatal collision between his cruiser and a car carrying two young women.

The prosecution is also expected to play Higbee’s 33-minute audiotaped statement during Det. Sgt. Karl Ulbrich’s testimony.

Jurors in the vehicular manslaughter trial were shown videotape of the crash scene Wednesday. The prosecution says the police video, which depicts the road Robert Higbee traveled before he collided with Christina and Jacqueline Becker, helps prove the defendant was reckless. The defense says the crash was an accident, and that Higbee was trying to catch up with a speeding motorist.






The young women were pronounced dead at the scene. The occupants of a third car involved in the crash escaped serious injury.

Traffic signs and the intersection are clearly illuminated in the video. However, the defense contends the video misrepresents what the trooper actually saw. Higbee’s patrol supervisor at the time of the incident testified that the traffic signs ordinarily do not appear as brightly lit but were when the video was taken because of the lights from the emergency vehicles on the scene. The defense believes poor lighting and the sightline to the stop sign at the intersection prevented Higbee from seeing the intersection.

The trial is expected to last several more weeks. Stay tuned to In Session for gavel-to-gavel coverage of the case with correspondent Jean Casarez.