Murder case in hit-run death of waitress goes to jury - driver: 'I never meant to hurt her'

The Dallas Morning News ^ | July 18, 2003 | By ROBERT THARP / The Dallas Morning News

[MeekOneGOP]

Murder case in hit-run death of waitress goes to jury

Driver: 'I never meant to hurt her'

07/18/2003

By ROBERT THARP / The Dallas Morning News

Through sobs, Sarah Foust described on Thursday a drunken plan to skip out on a restaurant tab but denied that she intended to harm a waitress who died trying to stop her and her friends as they drove away.

Ms. Foust was the only witness presented by the defense in her murder trial.

Jurors deliberated more than three hours before they were sent home with orders to reconvene Friday morning. Ms. Foust faces five to 99 years if convicted of the first-degree felony.

During her hour on the witness stand, Ms. Foust, 19, said she didn't realize that waitress Jennifer Sanchez, 20, was on top of the Chevrolet Nova as she sped out of a Bennigan's parking lot in Irving early in the morning of Jan. 3.

"My intentions were to get to the room, the motel, I never meant to hurt her ... I was drunk from the minute I left the room. No that's not an excuse, and I know that," she said.

Ms. Foust moaned and cried on the witness stand as she described Ms. Sanchez as an attentive waitress for her and her three friends. The waitress agreed to serve alcohol even though three of them were underage, Ms. Foust said, recalling the waitress saying, "I'll take care of you if you take care of me."

"I didn't want to hurt her. She was really nice," Ms. Foust said.

Ms. Foust and her three friends had spent the evening at a weekly motel in Irving, drinking two 15-packs of malt liquor and four 40-ounce beers, she said. When the group decided to go to a restaurant, all four knew that they did not have enough money and that they would be walking out on the bill, she said.

In closing arguments, prosecutors and Ms. Foust's defense attorney disputed whether the woman's actions amounted to murder.

Prosecutors Keith Robinson and Howard Blackmon asked jurors to return a guilty verdict for murder because testimony showed that Ms. Foust knew Ms. Sanchez was clinging to the top of the car as she tried to get away. Ms. Sanchez was thrown from the car when Ms. Foust intentionally jerked it to the left, prosecutors said. The waitress died from head injuries in the fall.

Mr. Robinson told jurors to contrast Ms. Foust's tearful testimony with a videotape shown Wednesday in which a drunken Ms. Foust used expletives to refer to the victim and said it was "her luck" for being on top of the car.

Defense attorney David Scoggins reiterated that his client is guilty of manslaughter by her reckless actions, but that she did not intend to harm or kill the waitress.

"She didn't go there to cause that kind of tragedy, but she did, and it was reckless. ... Good people mess up, too. Good people get involved in tragic situations," he said.

E-mail rtharp@dallasnews.com

---

Online at: http://www.dallasnews.com/latestnews/stories/071803dnmetfoust.5cf06.html

[MeekOneGOP]

Foust is lying on the witness stand. She knew Sanchez was on the car:

Ms. Foust moaned and cried on the witness stand as she described Ms. Sanchez as an attentive waitress for her and her three friends. The waitress agreed to serve alcohol even though three of them were underage, Ms. Foust said, recalling the waitress saying, "I'll take care of you if you take care of me."

"I didn't want to hurt her. She was really nice," Ms. Foust said.

< snip >

Prosecutors Keith Robinson and Howard Blackmon asked jurors to return a guilty verdict for murder because testimony showed that Ms. Foust knew Ms. Sanchez was clinging to the top of the car as she tried to get away. Ms. Sanchez was thrown from the car when Ms. Foust intentionally jerked it to the left, prosecutors said. The waitress died from head injuries in the fall.

Mr. Robinson told jurors to contrast Ms. Foust's tearful testimony with a videotape shown Wednesday in which a drunken Ms. Foust used expletives to refer to the victim and said it was "her luck" for being on top of the car.

JUAN GARCIA / DMN
Sarah Foust being escorted to jail in January.

Jennifer Sanchez

[MeekOneGOP]

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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[MeekOneGOP]

Here is a history of articles posted on this story:

FR Search for Keyword Bennigan's

07-16-2003
Jury hears taped conversation during hit-and-run murder trial

07-15-2003
Accused teen seeks plea bargain -
Bennigan's Irving hit and run murder trial begins

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

[xm177e2]

Mr. Robinson told jurors to contrast Ms. Foust's tearful testimony with a videotape shown Wednesday in which a drunken Ms. Foust used expletives to refer to the victim and said it was "her luck" for being on top of the car.

Get the rope.

[MeekOneGOP]

Zackley !! A long time in the Pokey for Foust.

[Ditter]

Yes I agree, a long jail sentance for Foust, but what was the waitress thinking when she tried to stop the car? She knew how drunk Foust was, she supplied the beer. That has got to be one of the stupidest things I have ever heard. They were both greedy, Foust wanted to run the check & the waitress wanted a big tip for supplying the beer. When idiots meet up, tragedy happens.

[DC native]

Ditto, Ditter.

[csvset]

Alcohol, it brings out the best in people.

[AnAmericanMother]

I wouldn't exactly consider the testimony of Foust as conclusive on whether the waitress knowingly served her party beer underage OR drunk. Particularly since none of the other members of the party testified. If it were true, they would all probably be swearing to it. (I also wonder how drunk they really were, and how much they had had to drink. Unless there's some other evidence regarding the amount they had had to drink, like empty cans in the hotel room or a breathalyzer, that testimony is suspect too. Better a DUI than a murder conviction.)

This whole argument that the waitress served them underage or drunk is a classic defense lawyer tactic - find something that the victim did wrong so that he can say "see -- she's MUCH worse than my client -- she committed the first crime -- it's HER fault this all happened." And unfortunately, when their clients are looking at jail time, defense lawyers will encourage them to come up with this sort of testimony. The really crooked ones will tell them what to say. The honest ones will say something like "Are you SURE she didn't . . ." and let their client do the lying.

It worked on you, didn't it? You were all ready to blame the victim.

[Ditter]

Sorry, you misread me. I blame the 2 of them equally. Foust should go to jail for a long time. This is not the first time that an employee has been run over & killed trying to stop a vehicle. It happened at a conveience store over a 6 pack of beer a few years ago. Foust was 18 & drunk, the waitress had to know it. She would have hit & mostly likely killed someone down the road. The waitress was stupid to get in her way.

[AnAmericanMother]

There isn't a big check on earth that's worth your life, I think everybody can agree on that. But the waitress probably didn't figure that this girl was mean enough to run her down. (I on the other hand assume that EVERYBODY is mean enough to try to hurt me - but that's because I've been around the world a little more.) She paid for her naivete or lapse of sense with her life.

I'm just saying that I am NOT ready to believe the word of this punk-talking little defendant, standing alone. If there is independent evidence that she was drunk (breathalyzer, car full of empties) that's one thing. But even her supposed friends aren't standing up for her here - looks like this is just the defendant saying, "Yeah, we were drunk, yeah, she knew it, yeah, she served us underage and drunk." They might not have had a thing to drink before they walked in the restaurant, she could have made up the whole thing about the 40 oz malt liquor and the tons of beer. They might have had fake IDs. And she killed the only witness who can contradict her on that point - except for her companions, and they are NOT testifying on her behalf. You don't think her lawyer tried to get them to come into court and say, "Yeah, we all were knee walking drunk and the waitress knew it"? And they wouldn't come. What does that mean?

The clincher for me is her tape recorded statement -- made BEFORE she and her lawyer had a chance to cook up a story.

[BraveMan]

I blame the 2 of them equally.

You've got to be kidding . . .

Your point of view is that if someone tries to stop a drunken thief and gets killed in the process, that person is equally responsible for the outcome?

I've met some sick, twisted individuals in my life. Even those demented souls can differentiate between shit and shinola better than this . . .

[Ditter]

This is the first time I have heard of this case. If you have been following it, then you certainly have more info than I do. I can't imagine that Foust was not checked for blood alcohol at the time of the accident. I have not heard the tape that you speak of.

[Ditter]

The Darwin Awards have you never heard of them?

[BraveMan]

Do yourself and the world a favor. Don't have children.

[AnAmericanMother]

It was a hit and run. No BAC. They didn't catch her until much later. According to witnesses in the parking lot, the waitress was not trying to stop the car but merely write down the license number when the driver deliberately swerved and ran her down.

Foust laughed and joked in the booking room when she was finally caught. Nobody outside the courtroom or police station has heard the tape of her police interview, but apparently she was cocky, profane, and unrepentant.

Foust's party of four (one of whom was of legal age) were served nine drinks total. No word on who drank what or whether it was beer or wine, but that works out to about two each. It would be a pretty cheap drunk who could be drunk enough to "accidentally on purpose" kill somebody after two beers.

The adult was charged with providing alcohol to minors, so it may have been purchased on his ID or one or more of the underaged people may have had fake IDs.

I would mistrust any uncorroborated testimony out of the mouth of a murder defendant.

[Ditter]

If the waitress was on the sidewalk just trying to get the license # & Foust went out of her way to hit her that would make a big difference. That is not the way the first article sounded. Do you remember the other insident I mentioned? I think it happened in Texas. Three guys in a pickup walked out of a store with a 6 pack of beer. When the clerk ran out to try & stop the truck with her body, she was struck & killed. She (I think it was a woman) actually got in front of the truck thinking they would not hit her. All for the price of 6 cans of beer.

[AnAmericanMother]

I wish the newspapers still assigned older, savvy reporters to the courthouse beat. They knew how to distill evidence and report it accurately.

These days they send the same young J-school grads to the courthouse that they send to the Junior League teas and fires. They don't know anything about the court system and don't know why certain testimony is important. So I guess we'll have to wait for a feature article on the trial to find out the exact state of affairs.

[Conspiracy Guy]

Has anyone confirmed the "You take care of me I'll take care of you" statement? Or is that just the killer's version.