Front Page  news  state

Thursday, February 28, 2008

Clerk Innocent In Papst Alcohol Sale

By Rozanna M. Martinez
Journal Staff Writer
    The clerk accused of selling alcohol to an intoxicated Dana Papst shortly before a deadly crash that claimed six lives was found innocent by a Sandoval County jury Wednesday.
    Shanna Renee Lovato, 31, sobbed when the six-person Magistrate Court jury, four men and two women, returned with the verdict after deliberating 11/2 hours.
    Lovato was suspected of selling Papst a six-pack of beer at the Chevron Redi-Mart in Bernalillo before he drove the wrong way on Interstate 25 east of Santa Fe and hit a minivan, killing five members of the Gonzales-Collins family. Papst also died. The wreck occurred in November 2006.
    Arissa Garcia, then 15, was the only survivor.
    Relatives of the Gonzales-Collins family who were present for Wednesday's verdict were visibly disappointed.
    Garcia's uncle, Gerald Collins, told the Journal the verdict sends the "wrong message."
    "It's an atrocity to have the jury come back with this kind of verdict," he said. "I think they were sympathetic that (Lovato) has children. There's no doubt Papst was intoxicated."
    Lovato's attorneys, Luis G. Stelzner and Michael Davis, said they were pleased with the jury's verdict.
    "She became a scapegoat for what (Papst) did," Davis said. "It's despicable what happened. We knew she wasn't guilty."
    He also said, "It was the nature of the case; we wouldn't be here otherwise. They were looking for somebody because Papst is dead and they couldn't prosecute anyone."
    Lovato testified Tuesday that she did not remember seeing Papst in the store the night of Nov. 11, 2006.
    The prosecution argued in closing Wednesday morning that Papst was visibly drunk according to testimony given by two passengers who were on the flight with Papst from Phoenix to Albuquerque the day of the crash. The passengers testified Papst was "chatty" and attempted to walk off the plane in midflight.
    "He stands up and grabs a laptop and starts walking off the plane," said assistant district attorney Boglarka Foghi. "Does a person who is not impaired get up in the middle of a flight? No sane person does that."
    Foghi argued that Papst had an agenda on his drive home to Santa Fe because he made "a quick trip" to the Bernalillo Redi-Mart in 34 minutes from the Sunport in Albuquerque. Papst purchased beer and beef jerky at the store, she said.
    Foghi said a receipt found in Papst's wallet after his death shows the time and place of the transaction and that it took place at the cash register assigned to Lovato.
    She said Lovato knew or should have known Papst was intoxicated. Autopsy results presented in testimony showed he had an alcohol content of 0.181 about eight hours after he died.
    Lovato, a single mother of four, testified during the trial that she would not have sold alcohol to Papst or any other customer showing signs of intoxication. She said the Redi-Mart was busy Saturday nights, the day of the week Papst visited the store. She said employees sign in to a cash register by entering their employee number code. Once that is done, the register can be used by any employee, she said. There was testimony during the trial that one other employee was working that night.
    In his closing arguments, Stelzner said there was no evidence of what Papst's condition was around 7 p.m., the time the receipt shows he was at the Redi-Mart.
    "There are no eyewitnesses, no video," Stelzner said. "What we do have is (two airline passengers) testifying of his condition before he was at the (Redi-Mart)."
    Stelzner said both passengers testified Papst was not obnoxious or offensive, "things you look for in a person who's intoxicated."
    Stelzner also referred to testimony Monday by State Department of Public Safety Sgt. Juan Griego, who said he collected statements from other passengers on the plane who said they saw Papst and saw no evidence he was intoxicated or impaired.
    "(Papst) was walking through the (airport) terminal, hundreds of people walked by him; if he was staggering, you'd think someone would have reported him," Stelzner said. "Yet no one remembers seeing (Papst), no one reports seeing him intoxicated."
    Gerald Collins' sister, Donna Collins, said her family has not gotten over the tragedy that took some of her family members' lives.
    "We lost five family members, they're never coming back," she said. "The system failed us again, there's been nothing done in Santa Fe and nothing done here."