A Marion County jury found Lincoln Smith guilty for smashing his semitruck into a van parked on the side of Interstate 5, killing seven farmworkers two years ago
The jury deliberated for about eight hours over two days before returning a verdict convicting Smith, 54, of seven counts of second-degree manslaughter, as well as reckless driving.
But jurors acquitted Smith of driving under the influence of intoxicants — believing his courtroom testimony that he was sleepy, not high, when the crash happened on May 18, 2023.
The North Highlands, California, resident was found with traces of methamphetamine, fentanyl and cocaine in his blood at the hospital, and state troopers found a “bullet of speed” in his pants pocket, plus hypodermic needles and a scale in the cab of his truck.
But Smith testified that the effects of a late-night drug binge had worn off by the following morning, saying he had simply nodded off at the wheel and missed the exit for a rest stop when the crash occurred just north of Albany where the interstate crosses the Santiam River.
Oregon sentencing laws call for a prison term of just over six years in second-degree manslaughter cases, but Circuit Judge Daniel Wren could impose more or less time, given the severity of the crash.
Six people died at the scene, while a seventh was declared deceased on a medivac on the way to the hospital.
They were identified as Juan Carlos Leyva-Carrillo, 37; Gabriel Juarez-Tovilla, 58; Alejandra Espinoza-Carpio, 39; Eduardo Lopez-Lopez, 31; Luis Enrique Gomez-Reyes, 30; Alejandro Jimenez Hernandez, 36; and Josue Garcia-Garcia, 30.
Three others were injured.
The farmworkers had just finished picking beets and were returning to their homes in the area when the van’s driver stopped to readjust a trailer carrying their tools.
It was the deadliest crash in Oregon since a bus carrying tourists smashed through an Interstate 84 guardrail in 2012, leaving nine dead.
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