By Ryan Kaika
Vanguard Sacramento Bureau
SACRAMENTO – “You got a really good trial,” Deputy District Attorney Hilary Davisson promised jurors Wednesday in her opening argument in the case of the People v. Daniel Haures.
With a slight smirk on her face, she said that “this is not going to be like that O.J. Simpson chase…(this is) even better than you’ve seen on TV.”
The defendant sitting two seats to her left, Daniel Haures, was the man being chased in that police pursuit. He listened in silence—as he did throughout the rather quick first day of trial—awaiting his fate before videos were shown of his high-speed evasion of police, along with four officer testimonies.
Haures’ attorney, Deputy Public Defender Guy Danilowitz, offered zero witnesses, only cross-examining the officers. Defendant Haures, 42, is charged with nine counts, from driving under the influence (DUI) to evading arrest, reckless driving and the most serious—assaulting an officer with a deadly weapon after an intense police chase on April 18, 2019, in Sacramento county.
Danilowitz, for his client, took the unusual step of informing the court that Haures would not be contesting the DUI and related resisting arrest counts, but would be contesting the alleged assault on officers.
“My client was extremely intoxicated, leading officers on a wild car chase. Police were doing their jobs. But there were no assaults,” the public defender told the jury in opening arguments.
The first witness, Officer Garth Keffer, began the trial, testifying to having initiated the investigation after spotting Haures’ 2014 green Mitsubishi SUV in the Rancho Cordova Days Inn parking lot. He 
cited his police training as the reason to suspect suspicious activity.
“We believe it is suspicious to see individuals sit in their cars for a prolonged time in a motel parking lot,” he said, although he never said how long he noticed the car sitting there.
The first testimonial video began, and with laser pointer in hand, Keffer narrated the first video, explaining his skepticism of Haures’ apparent loitering in the motel parking lot. Upon approaching the vehicle, according to Keffer, he and his partner, Officer Traci Trapani, noticed that Haures was peering through the back of his SUV with binoculars toward the motel.
Approaching the car, Keffer said he saw a clear bottle that was only one-eighth full, and said he believed it to be alcohol of some kind. He later admitted to defense counsel he never saw Haures drink from the bottle. He also claimed that Haures had the car in reverse but was maintaining his position, most likely from keeping his foot on the brake, which was never confirmed.
Following these statements, he told the courtroom that Haures “didn’t comply with rolling down (his) windows,” although it was later mentioned that Keffer’s partner, Trapani, had her fingers crunched by Haures as he rolled up the windows—it was the first of many charges of assault on a peace officer.
The scene, from the perspective of the police car footage, seemed rather calm at first—but things quickly sped up when Keffer claimed he thought Haures was reaching into the back of his car for a weapon, citing the “clutter” in the back of Haures’ green SUV as reason for taking further action.
As Haures reversed away from the scene, Trapani had to lunge out of the way to avoid possibly being sideswiped.
And the race was on. The video shows the first backup unit arriving—an unmarked silver sedan. Haures evades it and continues through the parking lot, while the sedan and the first police SUV with Trapani and Keffer in hot pursuit begins.
Leaving the motel parking lot, Haures confidently drives through three lanes of traffic and over a slightly raised median to cross the street and evade the unmarked police vehicles.
Haures continues onto Highway 50 in the video and the officers quickly lose sight—Keffer admitted that: “I might have lost visual at this point” (the speed limit on this stretch of highway is 65 mph according to Keffer, who later estimated that Haures was driving approximately 85-100 mph).
Keffer continued his testimony by saying that when Haures was apprehended, “he appeared dazed and confused,” and that his “speech was slurred.” Keffer claimed that Haures was unable to do a field sobriety test, and three hours after the 5:08 pm pursuit began, a blood sample was finally drawn, recording a BAC (blood alcohol content) of .395 (roughly five times the legal limit).
Keffer said they were unable to draw a blood sample for such a long time because of Haures’ “medical condition at the time” and his “inability to cooperate,” failing to mention that officers Tasered Haures multiple times and a police dog bit him, sending Haures to the hospital.
After this quick injection of fact, Sergeant Greg Saunders was brought to the stand to testify against Haures and helicopter footage was shown to the jury.
Continuing his evasion of the police on the highway, video showed Haures peeling off into a congested off ramp where he was essentially pinned by civilian and police vehicles due to the rush hour timing.
At this stage, there were four police cars attempting to apprehend Haures, and the video shows Saunders stepping into the street to signal to Haures to leave his vehicle. Deputy Ball, who was specifically mentioned by Saunders, attempts to box in Haures’ car, however, leaves just enough room for Haures to escape and brush against a civilian vehicle, furthering the chase.
At one point he was driving on the wrong side of the road.
Now, Haures’ SUV was visibly damaged, the bumper peeling off from the right-hand side. In a quick moment, Haures’ vehicle swerves out of control into an “AT&T box that is no longer,” according to Saunders, bouncing off of the electrical unit, spinning into oncoming traffic.
As Haures faced the wrong side of the road, he backed up toward an oncoming officer to continue his escape. This action is part of the DA’s charge that Haures assaulted an officer with a deadly weapon (the car).
In the afternoon session, Officer Steven Forsyth took the stand, his testimony accompanying the video showing Haures’ erratic driving over medians and against traffic. Forsyth’s actions helped lead to the apprehension of Haures on Industrial Parkway (off of Power Inn Drive).
Forsyth’s aid was in the form of an attempted “pit maneuver,” as he claimed that he was “trying to immobilize the suspect to prevent him (from) getting out on the major roadway,” and that he only attempted that maneuver because he “didn’t want to hit (Haures) head on.”
The technique worked. Deputy John Seubert, who would take the stand next, collided with the defendant head-on after Haures’ SUV was sent swerving by Forsyth, ending the chase. Seubert claimed that he had been “on pursuit for quite some time” and that he received an “update from the helicopter that the car had pulled into the industrial area.
“I decided to not avoid him,” Seubert explained, stating, “I slowed my vehicle,” to prevent maximum impact. Police vehicles encircled Haures’ damaged SUV, leading to a series of events that culminated in Haures’ removal from the car through the sunroof, an action not shown on video (along with the Tasering and dog bite of Haures, who, as indicated, was hospitalized).
The trial is expected to wrap up this week.
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