FRESNO, Calif. (KFSN) — On Thursday, a Fresno County jury saw body-camera video taken from inside the hospital following a deadly 2023 crash in Central Fresno.
“So, what happened?” an officer asked Shane Shahan.
Moments earlier, dramatic video shows him speeding at nearly 80 miles per hour. He blew through a red light, slamming into a Hyundai.
Investigators say it killed passenger Jesse Espino.
“He was definitely upset,” Fresno Police Department Officer Zack Chastain said about Shahan. “Resentful. I don’t remember if he was crying.”
The crash happened in the early morning hours as Shahan drove to his job at a construction site.
“In my questioning with him, he said he had had a whiskey the night before,” Chastain said.
Shahan has a history of alcohol-related driving crimes, and courts put him on notice, telling him that if he continued to drive while under the influence and somebody died, he could be charged with murder.
Prosecutors claimed Shahan had alcohol and marijuana in his system, and they followed through on charging him with murder. They did not charge him with driving under the influence.
“Do you see bloodshot eyes in that picture?” defense attorney and Action News Legal Analyst Tony Capozzi asked Chastain.
“No, they appear white,” Chastain said.
Capozzi presented the jury with several images of Shahan taken shortly after the crash, making the case that Shahan was not under the influence…
“Do you see bloodshot eyes there?” Capozzi asked about another photo. “They’re a little red,” Chastain said.
“Do you know if that’s from the accident?” Capozzi clarified. “I don’t know,” Chastain replied.
The officer later said he did not remember smelling alcohol as he interviewed Shahan, although prosecutors said Shahan’s mouth was blocked by a facial mask in the hospital.
A murder conviction could bring a possible life prison sentence.
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