Opening statements for the trial for a man charged with killing a Washington State Patrol (WSP) trooper in March 2024 started today.
The defendant, Raul Benitez-Santana, is accused of crashing into the back of a WSP cruiser on I-5 on March 2, 2024, while driving under the influence. According to a witness, the SUV driven by Benitez-Santana swerved and hit the back of the WSP vehicle. The SUV then ricocheted off the patrol vehicle and stopped in the fast lane, where it was hit by a van with six people inside.
WSP Trooper Christopher Gadd, who was sitting in the driver’s seat of the car that was crashed into, died in the collision.
Investigators alleged that Benitez-Santana, 33, was driving more than 100 mph when the crash occurred. Prosecutors said Santana admitted to smoking marijuana and drinking beer before he crashed into Gadd’s patrol vehicle.
New video played in court from a witnessing driver shows a dark-colored SUV speeding down the freeway, before signaling and merging into the shoulder (where Gadd was parked). It shows the moment of impact, leading to a fiery crash and scattered debris.
Prosecutors laid out of the damage caused by the crash.
“To say this was a catastrophic hit to a patrol car is an understatement,” a prosecutor said. “They could not recognize it as a patrol vehicle.”
Benitez-Santana’s defense tried to paint the incident as a horrific accident, claiming it was dark and Gadd’s vehicle did not have its lights on, and that Benitez-Santana only saw the car’s lights come on one second before the crash.
“Not all car accidents are crimes,” defense attorneys said during opening statements.
Prosecutors countered, claiming his driving on the freeway was reckless regardless of the circumstances.
Prosecutors called several witnesses Friday to highlight what they saw as Benitez-Santana drove down the freeway. They also called up law enforcement officers who had responded to the scene.
Defense attorneys sought to poke holes in their stories and discrepancies in their testimonies. They also sought to highlight early moments of the investigation that might have lacked coordination and organization, as well as officer recounts that Benitez-Santana was coherent and answering questions clearly.
Benitez-Santana, a Mexican citizen, was in the U.S. illegally when the crash happened. After his arrest, ICE placed an immigration detainer on him.
“Immigration detainers are essential in completing a transfer of custody in the safest way possible, and are placed by ERO Seattle to ensure noncitizens are held accountable to federal laws,” Drew Bostock, the Seattle Field Office Director for Enforcement and Removal Operations with ICE, stated.
It’s not known when Santana entered the country, but an ICE spokesperson confirmed he’s had at least four run-ins with the law in Washington.
Several members of Benitez-Santana’s family were in attendance Friday to show their support for him.
A hearing to dismiss the case was denied by a judge earlier this week.
The argument for the case’s dismissal
Benitez-Santana’s defense argued that a staffer in the Snohomish County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office asked ICE officials in Seattle to put a detainer on him ahead of a court hearing. They alleged the staffer engaged in “outrageous government misconduct.”
“The state reasonably should have known that including information about the client’s immigration status in a publicly filed court document would result in its dissemination to the public and could materially prejudice the adjudicative process,” the defense team stated.
Gadd, 27, is the 33rd WSP trooper killed in the line of duty. Gadd joined WSP in 2021, graduating at the top of his class in 2022.
He is survived by his wife Cammryn and their two-year-old daughter.
Contributing: Julia Dallas and Frank Sumrall, MyNorthwest
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