Lexington motorcyclist’s death drew protests. The trial for the deadly crash has started

Multiple experts testified in court Wednesday regarding the intoxication level of a man who’s on trial for a fatal 2020 Lexington crash that resulted in the death of motorcyclist Daezon Morgan.

Matthew Starling, 33, is on trial this week for charges of second-degree manslaughter and driving under the influence, according to court records. The accident occurred in June 2020 when Starling turned in front of a motorcycle on Richmond Road, ultimately killing Morgan, who was 25.

Starling was initially charged with an aggravated count of driving under the influence, according to court records. After Morgan died and police investigated further, Starling was charged with second-degree manslaughter, police said.

The way the case was handled by police drew criticism from onlookers and activists at the time. Starling was held at the scene of the accident and arrested after the crash, which happened on a Monday. But he was released from jail on bond before investigators were able to obtain a warrant for manslaughter. He was arrested again Tuesday after he turned himself in around 5:21 p.m.

“The anger was that the guy was only charged with a DUI and let out on $3 bond,” said April Taylor, a protest organizer in Lexington who helped lead protests to express displeasure with the way Starling’s case was handled. She also said she felt the manslaughter charge was not enough. “It’s murder,” she said.

‘Justice for Daezon.’ Protesters shut down Richmond Rd. for motorcyclist killed in crash.

Police defended their handling of the case and said it was common for police to upgrade charges after doing further investigation in similar cases.

Starling’s trial, which started earlier this week, continued Wednesday with testimony from Sgt. Brandon Muravchick from the Lexington Police Department. Muravchick was the officer who gave Starling field sobriety tests after the crash and arrested him after determining that he was intoxicated.

In court Wednesday, Muravchick described Starling as cooperative, saying he acted like he had nothing to hide.

During the walk-and-turn test, where individuals take nine steps heel-to-toe in a straight line before turning around and walking back, Starling missed two steps, Muravchick said. For the one-legged stand test, Muravchick said Starling swayed from side to side and did not have his foot raised 6 inches above the ground, as instructed.

Muravchick said Starling also failed additional tests. One example is when Muravchick asked Starling to read the alphabet from the letters “D” to “V,” and Starling read past “V” all the way to “Z” and said a profanity after realizing his mistake, according to Muravchick.

Starling was also asked to count down from 57 to 35 and he skipped the number 44, according to Muravchick.

Suspect’s attorney questions sobriety test results

Starling’s lawyer, Fred Peters, expressed concern over the field sobriety test results, asking Muravchick multiple times if Starling got any credit for the things he did right, such as walking normally in the hospital without the pressure that comes with field sobriety tests. Muravchick said the totality of Starling’s actions that night were considered during his examination.

Peters argued that it’s not natural for anyone to walk heel-to-toe in a straight line without the pressure of field sobriety tests, so a couple of missteps is reasonable. Peters also pointed out that Muravchick told Sterling to hold his foot approximately 6 inches above the ground during the one-legged stand test, giving Starling some leeway to not focus directly on the 6-inch standard.

The field sobriety tests were not administered immediately after the accident that night, police and eyewitnesses said. A police timeline showed Starling was given a breathalyzer at 12:52 a.m. Multiple witnesses said Starling remained in his car while police were at the scene, and that it took as long as two hours for the investigation to proceed after the accident happened.

Sgt. Donnell Gordon said the responding officers didn’t conduct a field sobriety test right away because they needed to secure the scene and hold it for investigators. One investigator who works for the Lexington Police Department had to come in from his home in Frankfort, Gordon said at the time.

Forensic expert explains blood alcohol test

Not long after Muravchick’s testimony, Emily Spangler, a forensic scientist at the Kentucky State Police’s forensic laboratory, was called to the stand to testify.

Spangler conducted Starling’s blood alcohol test at the lab following the crash. Spangler said in court that the blood was taken the night of the crash at 11:20 p.m., over two hours after the collision occurred.

The device used to read blood alcohol content gave Starling’s blood a reading of 0.078, below the legal limit. However, the test came with a measurement uncertainty of plus-minus 0.005. The legal blood alcohol content limit is 0.08.

Spangler said the sample was run again to ensure the reading was accurate, and said the reading would come in within 0.005 of the first reading nearly 100% of the time if run 100 times.

Crash reconstruction officer speaks to speed of vehicles in crash

Greg Marlin, a 23-year veteran with the Lexington Police Department who worked as a collision reconstruction investigator during the time of the accident, shared findings from his report on the accident in court Wednesday.

Marlin said Morgan was going 55 miles per hour at the moment of the crash and could have been going faster prior to the collision. The speed limit on that part of Richmond Road is 35 miles per hour, Marlin said.

Marlin said Morgan was coming over a hill toward the intersection of Richmond Road and Preston Avenue prior to the crash, and the crest of the hill was more than 650 feet from the intersection. At 55 miles per hour, it would’ve taken Morgan about eight seconds to cover that distance, Marlin said.

Starling would’ve had an additional four seconds to complete his turn onto Preston Avenue, which he was in the middle of when the crash happened, if Morgan was going the speed limit, Marlin said.

Marlin also said there’s a tree in the area of the intersection that would’ve blocked Starling’s view of Morgan for roughly one second if a number of variables held true, such as speed. Marlin also said Morgan was wearing dark-colored clothing while operation a dark-colored motorcycle, making it harder to pick him out of the background.

There was no evidence that Starling or Morgan braked prior to the collision, Marlin said. Starling was driving no slower than 11 miles per hour prior to the collision, according to event data recorder evidence collected by Marlin.

There’s no stop sign at the intersection where the collision took place.

Medical examiner: Marijuana was present in victim’s system

Sarah Maines, a medical examiner, spoke in court Wednesday and said that trace amounts of marijuana were found in Morgan’s system after the crash.

Prior to the trial, prosecutors wrote in court records that the presence of marijuana in Morgan’s system did not change that Starling “acted wantonly” and caused Morgan’s death. Peters, Starling’s attorney, wrote in court records that the presence of marijuana in Morgan’s system should be noted because it contributes to the circumstances of the accident.

George Nichols, the former Kentucky chief medical examiner, said in court Wednesday that the 12.3 nanograms of marijuana in Morgan’s system was a “substantial amount.”

After prosecutors rested their case Wednesday, Starling’s attorney asked the judge to dismiss Starling’s manslaughter charge. That motion was denied. Starling’s defense began calling witnesses Wednesday afternoon.

Starling, whose trial is set to continue Wednesday afternoon into Thursday, could face up to 10 years in prison if he’s convicted of second-degree manslaughter.