‘Guilty’

Monday, April 14, 2014

To those who know me, who stood behind me through countless court hearings, status conferences and visits behind glass; I thank you.

This entry may be of interest to you more than anyone else given that you are educated on the facts and events surrounding my accident. There are not many people who can say that they have firsthand knowledge of everything that has transpired with me from that fateful night – to the present day.

The accident has always been peculiar because nobody has ever been 100% positive about who was actually driving that night. Concerning the people that have come into my life afterward, I explain the accident as tragic, complicated and a series of horrendous decisions on my part. I take full responsibility for it, and I leave it at that.

To this day, people have not forgotten about the event and still inquire about the details of that night. Reliving them through verbal explanation is arduous and yet, there isn’t a day that goes by that I do not go over it in my mind. I dream of it and experience flashbacks when least expected. To say that I is disturbing would be a gross understatement and so, I have found it easier to simply not discuss it.

After a great deal of deliberation, I have decided to relay the events of that evening as I remember them to everyone here, simultaneously. Something came over me this past weekend while engrossed in conversation with my mom and I think the time has come, to do this.

TIMELINE OF EVENTS

21:00 HRS: I leave my home with a relatively new acquaintance, Michelle, and her close friend Marcos who I have just met. We take my car and I was driving. We went to a bar called BS West in Old Town Scottsdale.

-I consumed 2 cocktails and 1 shot.

-The Visa bill was time stamped 2230 HRS. I paid

22:30 HRS: Michelle, Marcos and I went to the Amsterdam lounge in downtown Phoenix. I drove and remember driving clearly.

-I consumed 2 cocktails and 2 shots

-Michelle and Marco also had drinks but I did not keep track

-The Visa bill was time stamped 0015 HRS. I paid

00:15 HRS: Leaving Amsterdam Lounge, I believe that I was driving because I do not remember otherwise.

00:30 HRS We stop at a gas station on the 101N and old Indian School Road for gas. I remember really not feeling well and crawling into the back seat to lay down.

Security video footage from the gas station shows me crawling into the rear driver’s side door.

THE ACCIDENT

The Scene: The paramedic who arrived first on the scene is a close friend who lives across the street from me. He reported that I was outside of the car, lying on the ground of the passenger side. He determined that I was unconscious and had a collapsed airway. I was intubated and called in as a trauma. Michelle was still in the front passenger seat, conscious, but screaming in shock, Marcos was outside of the care, conscious and walking away from the scene.

INITIAL POLICE INTERVIEWS

Michelle states that Marcos was driving the car and that I was laying down in the back seat. Marcos confirms that he was driving and had been racing with another car. Marcos appears lucent and police designate the scene as a simple accident and release Marcos to go home. He was not given a sobriety test.

WITNESS ON FOOT

2 unrelated people had pulled over and ran up to the car. They both identified Marcos as the person behind the wheel and Michelle as the passenger. Initially they were unaware of a 3^rd passenger in the car.

WITNESS DRIVING

5 unrelated people in cars that we raced past, identify me as the driver because the driver was wearing a blue shirt. I was in fact wearing a blue shirt. Marcos was wearing a black shirt. If their testimony was true, then I was driving.

BAD TO WORSE

I was brought to the Emergency Room that my mother worked at. I had also been assigned to her as a patient. She had no idea that it was me until my shirt came off and she saw the very identifiable tattoo. To this day, I swear I remember her scream “It’s my son!” over, and over.

From that moment on, all of the RNs, MDs and techs were friends of both me and my mom.

48 Hours Later:

Mom took me home, bruised and battered but otherwise allright. The car was totaled and I barely remember anything. The phone rang and a friend of ours told us to put on the news.

THE MEDIA

A Channel 5 helicopter doing a routine traffic report, was flying over the area of our accident. They saw an overturned truck in a deep culvert off of the highway. They spotted 3 figures laying around the truck. There was an immediate speculation that it could be connected to our accident from a couple of nights before. All of the blood began to run out of my head.

Another 78 hours:

Investigating detective phone me at home. They inform me that Marco’s real name is James and that they cannot locate him. They want to know if I knew where he lived. I said that I didn’t. Then the detectives report that Michelle has changed her story and is now saying that I was the driver. I told them that if that was true, I did not remember.

A YEARLONG INVESTIGATION

The detectives placed me under a surveillance detail but never made physical contact. I return to work but otherwise, become a recluse. Mentally, I am numb and go through my days on auto-pilot.

VACATION

My partner makes an executive decision to take me to Hawaii for a couple of weeks. He hopes it will allow me to decompress. Unbeknownst to us, I was indicted by a Grand Jury and a warrant was issued for my arrest, 4 days into the trip. We never realized it until we returned back to Scottsdale.

MEDIA ASSAULT

Surveillance images of my home, of me coming and going, driving to and from work, the gym etc. are released on the evening news. Police release a statement: “We ask the citizens of Arizon and specifically North Scottsdale to help us in locating David Ryan McKinney. He is wanted for murder, aggravated assault and felony evasion. Due to his contacts and financial means, we believe he is a high flight risk. If you see him, please contact the police immediately.”

THE INDICTMENT

Accident reconstructionists confirm that my car made contact with the overturned truck. James (AKA Marco) is still missing. Michelle changes course and will now testify that I was the driver.

The trial was tumultuous. My medical records were not admissible due to conflict of interest. We were going to trial because I did not believe that I was driving. The case was complex and the unrelated witnesses were divided on whether or not I was in fact, the driver. There was copious amount of doubt in everyone involved. My defense team had to convince a jury that there was not enough evidence to prove that I was the driver and that sufficient doubt existed to warrant an acquittal. If the jury believed I was however, I would be given the maximum sentence for each individual charge and serve a consecutive term of 128 years.

SURRENDER

My defense team told me to stay put at a friend’s house until they could facilitate a time and place for me to surrender peacefully. The case was continuously on the news and growing larger every day. Eight days later, I reported to the Maricopa County Jail for booking.

THE PLEA DEAL

The morning of my jury selection, the judge requested a meeting in his chambers with me, my family and friends. The room was packed. The ADA presented me with a plea deal of 16 years flat, without parole. I turned around and looked at my mom. She sat stoically hidden behind dark sunglasses. No words were exchanged between us. She tilted her head slightly as I turned forward and signed the paper.

RESPONSIBILITY

I take full responsibility for everything that happened that night. It doesn’t matter if I was driving or not… It was all my fault.

TODAY

I decided to put this out there for a few reasons. The first is that I know that many of you do not know what actually took place that night – at least not from me. Second, the last time I really spoke to my piece about this was during trial preparation. The case was ridiculously high profile here, and because of that, I never had to explain too much. Most people were already aware of who I was and what had happened. It was so challenging to allow people to believe all that they learned through the media: TV and newspapers, but it was my choice.

Most importantly, this past weekend was the very first time I actually asked my mom if she thought that I was driving that night. She paused for a good 15 seconds and the said ‘yes’.

There is nobody else in the world who knows me better than she does and her opinion matters greatly to me. I have been unable to stop thinking about her face when she told me that, yes, she believes that her son, me, was unbelievably reckless, drank alcohol and killed 3 people while driving home. That my own mom, said that I am guilty.