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James Blodgett, Fabian Marcial and Luciana Franco — the defendant’s cousin — took the stand in Kandiyohi County District Court in the trial of Olga Marina Franco Del Cid, 24, of Minneota. All three said they saw a person running west along County Road 24 after the accident along Highway 23.
Franco’s defense team is arguing that her boyfriend was driving the van in the Feb. 19 crash but fled the scene. Though Franco had to be extricated from the vehicle, with the dash and steering wheel pressed tightly against her, defense attorney Manuel Guerrero told jurors Franco wasn’t driving.
“Things are not always as they seem,” he said during his opening argument Monday.
Franco is charged with 24 counts in the crash, including criminal vehicular homicide in the deaths of four children. Authorities say the van she was in missed a stop sign, hopped railroad tracks and struck the school bus, causing a chain-reaction crash.
Guerrero said prosecutors failed to prove that Franco was driving, though first responders testified last week that she was behind the wheel with her right foot by the gas pedal when they found her.
“No one testified that Ms. Franco was driving that minivan,” he said.
The defense plans to call a biomechanics expert to testify that Franco was thrown part way into the driver’s seat after the impact.
Franco’s boyfriend, Francisco Sangabriel Mendoza, hasn’t been seen in the area since the day after the crash.
