06/30/09 Bend
 
25 year old Aaron Evan Choat sits in court Tuesday on day three of a trial against him. He's accused of driving drunk, crashing a jeep on Highway 20 east near Harmony Lane, killing two young females. On the stand Tuesday, one neighbor describes what he heard early November 19, 2006. "Sound asleep, I heard boom, boom, crash and then it rolled," said neighbor Richard Van Osdel.
 
Choat and three others were thrown from a Jeep Cherokee. 20 year old Brianne Blocker died at the scene. 17 year old Rachel Grant died later at Saint Charles Medical Center. Nearly three years later, a memorial remains at the crash site. A third person-- 21 year old Brett Sells suffered minor injuries. Choat was also taken to the hospital with injuries to his chest and left side of his body. Choat denies he was driving. The State has to prove he was, charging him with manslaughter, assault, drunken and reckless driving and reckless endangerment. Paramedics called to the stand recalled the morning. "My opinion is Mr. Choat was indeed the driver behind the wheel based on the extent of his injuries." said Daniel Leyes with the Bend Fire Department.
 
A physician at the medical examiners office testified neither of the girls could have been the driver based on their injuries. In the courtroom, family members of the two young college students killed are still shaken by the tragedy. Blockers family made the trip from the Portland area where she lived before moving to Bend for college. Her grandmother keeps an album close by, calling Brianne her sunshine; athletic and kind, and just about to start a job at Mount Bachelor. Grant's mother carries a picture of the seventeen year old in her wallet, the family drove down from Newport to attend the trial.
 
The trial will resume Wednesday, it's expected to last nine days.