Higbee, Not Guilty, Speaks to Victims’ Mother

CAPE MAY COURT HOUSE, New Jersey–Late Monday afternoon jurors in the case of New Jersey vs Robert Higbee found the state trooper not guilty of vehicular homicide in the deaths of Jaqueline and Christina Becker.

The packed courtroom went silent before the verdict was announced. The majority of those in the courtroom were fellow New Jersey troopers in support of Higbee, who has been suspended since his indictment in February 2007.

Maria Caiafa, mother of the teenage crash victims, and her family, sat quietly on the prosecution’s side of the courtroom. After the verdict was announced by the jury foreperson, each juror was polled and asked by Judge Raymond Batten if the verdict just read was their true verdict. All individually replied….yes.

Higbee’s face turned a very bright red as he seemed to nod to each juror as they were polled. Defense attorney Bill Subin spontaneously moved to the center of the courtroom thanking the jurors through his tears.

Once the reality of the verdict was confirmed, the majority of state troopers in the courtroom began to cry, holding their faces in their hands while wiping tears from their eyes.

When the proceedings concluded, Judge Batten took a moment to read what appeared to be a written statement expressing his sorrow for the family of the victims. The Caiafa family remained stoic and silent.

As people left the courtroom, Maria Caiafa and Robert Higbee went alone into a witness waiting room off the courtroom. When they emerged nearly 10 minutes later, Caiafa appeared emotional as she left the small room.

Defense attorney Bill Subin confirmed to a waiting press and media group outside that Caiafa had asked to speak to Higbee alone and he agreed.

Higbee and Caiafa both told the press their talk would forever remain confidential.

Deliberations Begin In Trooper Trial

CAPE MAY COURT HOUSE, New Jersey–Jurors have begun deliberations in the trial of a New Jersey state trooper accused of vehicular homicide.

Prosecutors say Robert Higbee driving recklessly when he drove through a stop sign and struck a minivan.

The occupants of the minivan, 17-year-old Jacquelyn Becker and her sister, Christina, 19, were pronounced dead at the scene.

Higbee was attempting to catch up to a speeding motorist at the time of the crash. He says he does not recall seeing the stop sign or the van before the collision.

The trooper was travelling 65 mph at the time of impact. The speed limit on the road Higbee was driving was 35 mph.

Higbee faces up to 20 years in prison if convicted. The jury consists of five women and seven men.

Stay tuned to In Session for the latest developments in this case with correspondent Jean Casarez.

Higbee Says He Doesn’t Remember Actual Crash

CAPE MAY COURT HOUSE — State Trooper Robert Higbee told jurors Monday that he did not remember crashing into a Dodge Caravan minivan at the intersection of Stagecoach and Tuckahoe roads on Sept. 27, 2006.

But he remembered the aftermath.

“I saw those girls in the van,” Higbee said from the witness stand. “I saw that they had suffered massive head injuries.”

His voice, strong and clear throughout his testimony, slowed briefly as he said the words.

Maria Caiafa, the mother of Jacqueline Becker, 17, and Christina Becker, 19, wiped tears from her eyes.

Jacqueline Becker, who would now be 20 years old, and Christina Becker, who would be 22, both died at the scene of the collision after Higbee’s Ford Crown Victoria police vehicle struck the driver’s side of the minivan. Higbee is charged with two counts of vehicular homicide in their deaths.

Higbee, who had always planned to testify at his trial, told jurors that the crash is never far from his thoughts.

“It’s the first thing I think about when I get up. It’s the last thing I think about at night,” he said.
During questioning by defense attorney D. William Subin, Higbee said that he was on patrol that night just before 10 p.m. when he turned in to the southbound lane of Stagecoach Road, in an area he said he was semifamiliar with.

It was then he encountered a northbound car traveling well above the 35 mph speed limit. The car’s speed set off the audible alarm of the radar detector in Higbee’s vehicle, its pitch becoming higher and higher.

“The vehicle that was approaching me was going 65 mph,” Higbee said.

He slowed and turned around to catch up to the speeder, keeping his eye on what he could identify only as a dark car.

“I proceeded to close the distance on this vehicle,” he said, referencing a policy that has become a focus of the defense.

Higbee said he recalled seeing that car’s taillights flicker in the distance and then his memory is unclear.

“The last few frames in my mind are braking, looking and darkness,” Higbee said.

From there, Higbee recalled trying to call for help and the arrival of a young man, likely Michael Taylor, an occupant in the third vehicle involved.

“I remember trying to orient myself, realizing I’d been in an accident,” Higbee said.

Higbee said he learned that another vehicle was involved and asked the young man to check on them.

“He said they’re deceased,” Higbee said.

Higbee, who suffered injuries to his left side and back as well as a concussion, managed to get out of the police car and made his way to the Beckers’ minivan at the edge of Stagecoach Road.

Higbee said he had no memory of seeing the “stop ahead” sign about 517 feet before the intersection and had no memory of the stop sign itself.

“I don’t have a specific recollection of a stop sign or any traffic-control device,” Higbee said.

But Higbee, speaking directly to the jurors, told them he would never disregard a traffic sign. He was newly married with hopes of starting a family at the time. He and his wife now have a 16-month-old daughter.

“I had everything to live for, so there would be no reason for me to consciously disregard a stop sign,” said Higbee, who marked his 37th birthday Monday.

During cross-examination, First Assistant Prosecutor J. David Meyer focused on the stop sign and Higbee’s statement to police given on Oct. 17, 2006.

In the tape-recorded interview, Higbee said, “I remember stopping and looking both ways and proceeding through the intersection.”

Meyer asked why Higbee made that statement.

“I believe I was telling a true account of what happened,” Higbee said, adding that to the best of his recollection, he remembered stopping despite evidence to the contrary.

Early in his testimony, Higbee cited the state’s vehicular pursuit policy and his adherence to that policy, which advises emergency lights and sirens should not be used when closing the distance with a violator.

But Meyer asked that given that he was traveling at twice the posted speed limit while approaching an intersection, shouldn’t a reasonable law-enforcement officer substantially reduce his speed.

Higbee said yes, adding that would be the case if the officer recognized that a stop sign was present.

Meyer asked what priority the public’s safety held as police officers went about their duties.

“Safety is paramount,” Higbee said.

Meyer then pointed to the pursuit policy, which states in part, “To diminish the likelihood of a pursuit, a police officer intending to stop a vehicle for any violation of the law shall, when possible and without creating a threat to public safety, close the distance between the two vehicles prior to activating emergency lights and an audible device.”

Meyer said the qualifier “when possible and without creating a threat to public safety” gave officers discretion.

“I felt I was acting within the public safety realm,” Higbee said.

Higbee’s background as a football player, Meyer said, should also have given him the ability to be keenly aware of his surroundings, much like a player on the field.

But Higbee likened the comparison to comparing “apples and oranges.”

Jurors in the case must determine if Higbee acted recklessly when he failed to stop that night.

In this case, the judge has defined recklessness to mean a conscious disregard of a substantial and unjustifiable risk of serious bodily injury or death that requires a gross deviation from action that a reasonable law-enforcement officer would take under the circumstances.

Higbee will return to the witness stand Tuesday morning. The defense is expected to present other witnesses later in the day.

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.

Trooper Trial: Stop Sign At Crash Scene Critical Evidence

CAPE MAY COURT HOUSE, NJ–Attorneys in the trial of a New Jersey state trooper accused of vehicular manslaughter are arguing this morning over whether Judge Raymond A. Batten should allow testimony regarding any changes to the intersection of Stagecoach and Tuckahoe Roads after the high-speed collision that killed Christina and Jacqueline Becker in September 2006.

Defense attorney William Subin says such information is relevant to his case because, he says, the photos in evidence do not accurately reflect what the intersection looked like the day of the incident. Since the incident, the original stop sign has been replaced by a larger one with reflective tape and is supported by two poles. Reflective tape has also been placed on the “stop sign ahead” warning sign. A four way blinking light has also been put up.

A large focus of the defense case is that the intersection was dangerous because of the difficulty in seeing the stop sign.

Later today jurors are expected to hear from Michael Taylor, the passenger in the third car in the collision. The first medical responder and law enforcement officials who responded to the scene are expected to follow.

On Monday, the first law enforcement officer to arrive at the scene and the driver of a third car involved in the collision testified. Prosecutors say Trooper Robert Higbee’s recklessness while pursuing a speeding motorist resulted in the deaths of Christina and Jacqueline Becker. His patrol car collided with their mini-van after he ran a stop sign.

The defense claims Higbee followed police procedure and that lighting conditions and placement of the stop sign at the intersection prevented Higbee from seeing the stop sign until it was too late.

Higbee faces up to 20 years in prison if convicted. Prosecutors indicted the trooper five months after the crash, alleging that he acted recklessly while chasing a speeding car.

Stay tuned to In Session for gavel-to-gavel coverage of this case with correspondent Jean Casarez.