Friend of defendant tells of jailhouse confessionMichael
Kiefer In a jailhouse confession, a Kuwaiti woman charged with hit-and-run in the death of a Mesa man admitted she hit someone and asked her friend and co-defendant to lie on her behalf, the friend testified in court. Muneerah Al-Tarrah, is being tried in absentia in Maricopa County for leaving the scene of the accident that killed 35-year-old Todd DeGain in September. On Monday, as the second week of trial began, co-defendant Reem Bishara took the stand as a witness for the prosecution. Bishara said she first heard from police officers at the scene of her arrest that someone had been killed and said she then confronted Al-Tarrah as they sat in a Mesa police lockup. "I just wanted to hear it from her," Bishara told The Republic after her court testimony. She said when Al-Tarrah asked her to help concoct an alibi, she refused. "It's nothing you can get away with," she claimed she told Al-Tarrah. Early on Sept. 14, Al-Tarrah, 22, and Bishara, 20, were driving along Alma School Road in Mesa after a night of drinking. Police and prosecutors believe DeGain pulled his motorized skateboard in front of Al-Tarrah's car. The impact threw him through the car's windshield and over the top of the car, killing him instantly. Bishara was driving behind in her own car and ran over some of the debris from the accident. Al-Tarrah kept driving, then struck a light pole and took off again until both women stopped in a nearby residential neighborhood, prosecutors say. |
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Both were charged with leaving the scene of a fatal accident. Al-Tarrah was also charged with DUI; Bishara with underage drinking and driving. In January, Al-Tarrah fled the country rather than stand trial. Her trial began without her on April 11. If convicted, Al-Tarrah could be sentenced to 1 1/2 to 3 3/4 years in prison, although the crime is usually punished by a sentence of probation with or without jail time. And although Al-Tarrah can be tried in absentia, she cannot be sentenced in absentia. Maricopa County Attorney Andrew Thomas has said repeatedly that he will seek her extradition from Kuwait. Bishara's trial ended last month with a deadlocked jury; Thomas has vowed to retry her, although a trial date has not been set. During her testimony, Bishara stuck with her assertion that she never saw Al-Tarrah's car strike DeGain. But Glenn DeGain, the victim's father, who attended the trial Monday, said, "I do believe that both parties knew that they hit somebody." The
elder DeGain also felt that Bishara's story was inconsistent. This information is courtesy of http://www.azcentral.com/ |
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