WORCESTER, Mass. (AP) - The trial of a Massachusetts man charged with driving high on marijuana and causing the death of a state police trooper is getting underway.
The Telegram & Gazette reports that testimony is scheduled to begin Monday in the jury-waived of David Njuguna (en-juh-GOO’-nuh).
Prosecutors say the 33-year-old Webster man was driving more than 80 mph while high on pot on March 16, 2016, when he struck Trooper Thomas Clardy’s stopped cruiser from behind on the Massachusetts Turnpike in Charlton.
The 44-year-old trooper was a father of seven from Hudson.
Authorities said Njuguna had bought marijuana at a medical dispensary about an hour earlier.
He pleaded not guilty to charges including manslaughter.
Njuguna’s lawyer, Peter Ettenberg, says his client lost consciousness because of a “medical event” and was not impaired by marijuana.
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Information from: Telegram & Gazette (Worcester, Mass.), http://www.telegram.com
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