FR Search for Keyword Bennigan's
JUAN GARCIA / DMN
Sarah Foust being escorted to jail in January.
Posted on 07/15/2003 8:06:49 AM PDT by MeekOneGOP
Accused teen seeks plea bargainProsecutors decline; trial to proceed in death of Irving waitress
07/15/2003
Attorneys for the 19-year-old woman accused of killing an Irving waitress offered Monday to have her plead guilty to lesser charges of manslaughter or intoxication manslaughter, but prosecutors said they planned to proceed with the murder trial, which is to continue Tuesday morning.
Dozens of the nearly 100 Dallas County residents called for jury selection in the murder trial of Sarah Foust told District Judge Janice Warder that they knew at least some of the details surrounding the Jan. 3 incident at a Bennigan's restaurant in Irving.
Twenty-year-old college student Jennifer Sanchez died from injuries she suffered when she was struck in the parking lot by a car driven by Ms. Foust about 1 a.m., authorities say.
According to police reports, Ms. Foust and three friends had not paid their $131 restaurant tab, and Ms. Sanchez had gone after them.
As the waitress tried to record their license plate number, she was struck by the car. Witnesses said she screamed for the driver to stop before she was thrown from the car and hit her head.
Police pulled over the car less than two miles from the restaurant, which is on Airport Freeway.
To reach a guilty verdict for murder, prosecutors will have to prove that Ms. Foust intended to kill Ms. Sanchez or cause her serious injury when she struck her with the car and drove erratically before Ms. Sanchez was thrown off.
Defense attorneys said they plan to have their client testify on her own behalf. Ms. Foust, who does not have a driver's license, faces five to 99 years in prison if convicted of murder, a first-degree felony.
Three others with Ms. Foust that night, Kortnie Henson, David W. Thornton and Michael John Prewitt, have been charged with theft of service.
The restaurant bill included nine alcoholic drinks for the foursome. Three of them were underage. Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission is conducting a separate investigation.
E-mail rtharp@dallasnews.com
Online at: http://www.dallasnews.com/latestnews/stories/071503dnmetfoust.8bd273b6.html
FR Search for Keyword Bennigan's
JUAN GARCIA / DMN
Sarah Foust being escorted to jail in January.
Jury selection begins today for the Belly Girl's murder trial (per local KRLD 1080-AM).
JUAN GARCIA / DMN
Sarah Foust being escorted to jail in January.
Please let me know if you want ON or OFF my Sarah Foust murder trial ping list!. . .don't be shy.
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You don't mean this Belly Girl?
Here is a history of article posted on this story:04-10-2003
Parents of slain waitress file suit -
restaurant denies that it urged pursuit of nonpaying customers
02-13-2003
Woman indicted in waitress's death
(Bennigan's Irving hit-and-run murder)
01-21-2003
Judge sets curfew for suspect in waitress killing
(Bennigan's Irving vehicular assault)
01-17-2003
Detective: Driver cursed at waitress -
murder suspect laughing before arrest; bail reduction denied
01-15-2003
Bennigan's may face sanctions over service -
re: Bennigan's Irving vehicular assault murder
01-10-2003
Driver seeks to talk with victim's kin -
seeks bail reduction (Bennigan's Irving waitress murder)
01-07-2003
Charges reduced in waitress death
(Update on Sanchez Case)
01-06-2003
Irving police seek 4th in death of waitress
01-05-2003
Driver, 18 YO woman, charged with murder
in Bennigan's Irving tab walkout vehicular assault
01-03-2003
Waitress hit by car dies - murdered by 4 customers
walking out on $100 Bennigan's tab in Irving
LOL !! No no !!! She is the GOOD belly girl. Sarah's the BAD belly girl !
http://www.lifelibertyetc.com/Images/Products/ptsf_ash.jpg
Here is a picture of the victim, btw:
Jennifer Sanchez
Thanks for the ping.
Witnesses describe waitress' last moments in murder trial07/15/2003
Jennifer Sanchez’s last moments were spent clinging to the roof of an old Chevrolet Nova - her legs dangling - as the driver swerved to throw her off, several witnesses recalled on the opening day of Sarah Foust’s murder trial.
The 20-year-old waitress who had hoped to become a school teacher had a “terrified” look in her eyes as Ms. Foust backed up her car, forcing Ms. Sanchez onto the trunk, then sped away from an Irving restaurant, said witness Jonathan Cooley.
“It scared the heck out of me,” he said. “It was pretty obvious that there was a person behind her and she was backing into her … It appeared to me she was hanging on for dear life.”
During the first day of testimony Tuesday, Ms. Foust sobbed several times, including when Ms. Sanchez's father described his daughter and identified photographs of her and while jurors heard a recording of 911 dispatchers talking with witnesses just after the incident.
Her attorney, David Scoggins, declined to make any opening remarks at the start of the trial.
Patrons and employees of an Irving Bennigan’s restaurant described how Ms. Foust, 19, and friends Kortnie Henson, David W. Thornton and Michael John Prewitt set in motion the events that led to the waitress’s death just after midnight Jan. 3. The group had $130 worth of food and alcohol, then tried to sneak away without paying the tab, witnesses said.
Kevin Barlow was sitting at a nearby table and said the group had been acting odd. One of the women was wearing pajama pants, and they appeared to be intoxicated, he said. Mr. Prewittt asked about nearby topless clubs where the women might work, Mr. Barlow said.
He warned Ms. Sanchez when three of them exited the restaurant while Mr. Prewitt remained to finish a beer, then got up to go to the restroom.
Moments later, Mr. Prewitt was sprinting out a side exit with Ms. Sanchez in pursuit.
Outside, Ms. Sanchez approached the idling Nova driven by Ms. Foust and threatened to call police. “She said, ‘You’re not going to get away. I’m going to write your number down.’…While she was behind the car, the car started backing up into her,” Mr. Cooley said.
Witnesses said they next saw Ms. Sanchez on the trunk of the car. The car accelerated through the parking lot, and Ms. Sanchez began moving onto the roof of the car, possibly in an effort to hold on, Mr. Cooley said.
The car turned suddenly, throwing Ms. Sanchez to the ground. She died later that morning from her injuries.
To obtain a guilty verdict for murder, prosecutors Keith Robinson and Howard Blackmon will have to prove that Ms. Foust intended to hurt or kill Ms. Sanchez as she fled from the restaurant.
“She makes a decision … to cut the wheel of that car, to attempt to throw Jennifer Sanchez off the roof of that car, and she’s successful,” Mr. Robinson told jurors in his opening statements.
A separate civil lawsuit filed by Ms. Sanchez’s parents charges that the restaurant put their daughter in danger by having a policy that encouraged employees to pursue patrons trying to leave without paying.
A Bennigan’s manager denied under cross-examination by Mr. Scoggins on Tuesday that the restaurant made employees responsible for bills that are not paid.
Defense attorneys have said they plan to have Ms. Foust testify on her own behalf after prosecutors finish presenting their case.
Ms. Foust, who does not have a driver’s license, faces five to 99 years in prison if convicted of murder, a first-degree felony.
E-mail rtharp@dallasnews.com
Online at: http://www.dallasnews.com/localnews/stories/071603dnmetfoust.90ebfa76.html
Witnesses describe waitress' last moments in murder trial Excerpt:Jennifer Sanchez’s last moments were spent clinging to the roof of an old Chevrolet Nova - her legs dangling - as the driver swerved to throw her off, several witnesses recalled on the opening day of Sarah Foust’s murder trial.
The 20-year-old waitress who had hoped to become a school teacher had a “terrified” look in her eyes as Ms. Foust backed up her car, forcing Ms. Sanchez onto the trunk, then sped away from an Irving restaurant, said witness Jonathan Cooley.
“It scared the heck out of me,” he said. “It was pretty obvious that there was a person behind her and she was backing into her … It appeared to me she was hanging on for dear life.”
During the first day of testimony Tuesday, Ms. Foust sobbed several times, including when Ms. Sanchez's father described his daughter and identified photographs of her and while jurors heard a recording of 911 dispatchers talking with witnesses just after the incident.
Her attorney, David Scoggins, declined to make any opening remarks at the start of the trial.
And murder
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