Alexa Hoffman
Daily Record Staff Writer

A man sat quietly sobbing near the end of a bench Wednesday, as a member of the Colorado State Patrol described the scene of an accident that killed his fiancee Nov. 11.

Allan Brooks sat through the preliminary hearing of Mark Proctor, charged with vehicular homicide and driving under the influence in the death of Fort Collins resident Chu Kin (Britt) Graff, which included the testimony of Luke Armstrong, an accident reconstruction trooper with the Colorado State Patrol.

Based on the testimony of Armstrong, District Court Judge Chuck Barton found probable cause and accepted pleas of innocence on all counts from Proctor through his attorney, Dennis Hartley of Colorado Springs. A motions hearing was set for 8:15 a.m. May 26, with a trial set for June 21-24.

According to the testimony, the accident occurred in Penrose at the intersection of Colo. 115 and Third Street at about 2:37 p.m. and involved Proctor's black Ford Ranger pickup and Graff's Nissan Sentra. Armstrong said, based on a reconstruction of the accident, using the location of the cars following the accident, the amount and placement of debris from the accident on the roadway and the amount of damage to the vehicles, that the 41-year-old man was travelling eastbound on Third Street and the 39-year-old woman, a Cañon City High School graduate, was heading south on Colo. 115.

"The black Ford Ranger ran into the side of the Nissan," Armstrong said. "It did very heavy damage to the side of the Nissan."

Armstrong also described the road conditions — "both roads were clear" — and the weather conditions — "clear, sunny, approximately 40 to 50 degrees with a slight wind."

He also pointed out the clear weather conditions while describing to the six photographs entered into evidence by Deputy District Attorney Marty Barta. The photos were taken of the roads following the accident, as well as the two vehicles involved in the accident. Armstrong testified both vehicles ended up on the east side of Colo. 115, with the Sentra flipped onto its hood. A videotape, taken by Armstrong at the scene, also allegedly shows the end result of the accident.

When Dr. Dorothy Twellman, Fremont County coroner, arrived, Armstrong said, "she determined that Ms. Graff had deceased at the scene. She did believe that it was caused by this crash."

Armstrong said he believed the Colorado Springs defendant ran the stop sign at the end of Third Street before proceeding onto Colo. 115, based on his reconstruction of the scene. He also confirmed two blood alcohol content tests were performed at Parkview Hospital, one at 4:47 p.m. that apparently showed a .167 bac, and one at 5:55 p.m. that purportedly showed a 138 bac.