Trial: Worker Charged In Death Of Berkeley Woman In Wheelchair

SAN FRANCISCO – A woman in a wheelchair who was struck by a former San Francisco city worker in a crosswalk at Seventh and Market streets in 2016 died as a result of medical incompetence and not due to the collision, a defense attorney told jurors today in court.

James Harris, a former driver for the city's South of Market Mental Health Services, is on trial this week for misdemeanor vehicular manslaughter in the death of Thu Thi Phan.

Phan, a 38-year-old Berkeley resident, was crossing Market Street at Seventh when Harris, a 69-year-old Antioch resident, struck her as he turned left onto Market from a red bus lane around 9:50 a.m. on Feb. 5, 2016.

Phan, a U.S. Department of Labor employee who used a wheelchair and had osteogenesis imperfecta, or brittle bone disease, was already partway across the street when she was struck by the driver's side of Harris'
vehicle, prosecutor Kara Lacy said today in the trial's opening statements.

Lacy showed jurors a video taken from a San Francisco Municipal Railway bus stopped on Market Street at Seventh that shows the white city vehicle turning into the intersection and then stopping abruptly as another pedestrian approaching from the south stops and jumps back. The video does not show Phan or the actual collision.

Following the collision, Phan was alert and responsive, but she died later in the hospital due to uncontrollable bleeding in the brain, Lacy said. A medical examiner's report found that she died due to blunt force trauma to her head, neck and torso.

Lacy told jurors that Harris had entered the intersection at a time when multiple pedestrians including Phan were in it, and that a witness driving behind him described him honking and acting like he was in a hurry
prior to the collision.

"I anticipate that this case is going to come down to the concept of ordinary negligence," Lacy said, arguing that Harris had failed to use "reasonable care" to avoid harm.

However, Harris' defense attorney Dana Drusinsky told jurors that "what happened was a tragedy, but it was no crime."

Drusinsky argued that Phan entered the crosswalk on a red light and was traveling at a "jogging or running speed," while Harris entered the intersection on a green light and was traveling slowly and cautiously enough to stop immediately when the collision occurred.

Even with the collision, Phan should have been OK, Drusinsky said.

But once at the hospital, Phan, who was only around 3 feet tall and 50 pounds, was given too much fluid for her tiny frame, causing the excess fluid and pressure in her brain that led to her death, Drusinsky said.

"The accident didn't kill her, but the gross medical negligence did," Drusinsky said, telling jurors she planned to present an expert witness to support the claim of medical malpractice.

Harris, who walks with a cane, listened closely in court today. He wore a dark blue button-down shirt and took occasional puffs on an inhaler.

Left turns onto Market Street are prohibited from Seventh Street for most vehicles, and only buses, taxis, commercial vehicles and paratransit vehicles are allowed to use the red lane that Harris was in.

Drusinsky said Harris, who transported patients with mental health issues, qualified as paratransit and was allowed to use the lane.

Phan's death drew protests from advocates for pedestrians, seniors and the disabled who called for the city to eliminate left turn exemptions for commercial and city vehicles on Market Street between Third and Eighth streets and to improve signage clarifying who can legally turn from the red lanes.

Jessica Lehman, executive director for Senior and Disability Action and a friend of Phan's, said the city has since improved the signage at that intersection and has changed traffic lights to give pedestrians there
more of a head start in the crosswalk.

Lehman said Phan's death had left her and others who knew her "heartbroken" and "angry," but noted that group members had some mixed emotions about the criminal case.

"We don't think someone else going to prison does anyone any good, but at the same time it is important that individuals and the community as a whole are held accountable when something like this happens," Lehman said. "What that means for me and for us is that the city needs to make the streets safer."

Lehman said the city should eliminate complicated and confusing intersections where some vehicles can turn left and others can't, and should look at other solutions including longer crossing times, getting rid of cars on Market Street and evaluating the impacts of ride-hailing companies like Uber and Lyft on pedestrian safety.

"As a person in a wheelchair myself I know, particularly because of Thu's death, how scary it is to cross Market every day to get to work," Lehman said. "It shouldn't be this way. None of us should have to put our
lives into our hands every time we cross the street."

Phan's family settled a civil lawsuit against the city in March 2017 for $2.875 million.

Harris remains out of custody on bail. His trial is expected to continue through next week, with closing arguments tentatively expected to take place next Tuesday.

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