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Trooper Acquitted In Deadly 2006 Crash

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Jun 9, 2009 6:11 am US/Eastern

Trooper Acquitted In Deadly 2006 Crash

CAPE MAY COURT HOUSE, N.J. (CBS 3) ― A New Jersey state trooper was found not guilty of vehicular homicide in a 2006 crash that killed two teenage sisters.

Trooper Robert Higbee, 37, was charged with two counts of vehicular homicide after the September 2006 crash in Cape May County's Upper Township that claimed the life of two teenage sisters.

A jury found Higbee not guilty on both of the counts Monday afternoon.

"I never went out there to intentionally hurt anybody and I am glad the jury saw that," Higbee told reporters following the verdict.

Higbee was chasing a speeding driver when he allegedly ran through a stop sign at Stagecoach and Tuckahoe Roads, striking a minivan.

Jacqueline Becker, 17, and her 19-year-old sister Christina were both killed in the collision. The two sisters were apparently on their way to a corner store to get milk for the next morning's breakfast.

Higbee previously testified that he did not remember running the stop sign or the impact itself. An expert witness for the defense said during the nearly six-week long trial that often times a person can experience temporary amnesia following a stressful event.

"It's never been far from my mind since the accident occurred on the 27th of 2006," Higbee said. "I still think about it every day, it's with us, it's with me, nothing is ever going to bring those girls back, but I think the jury did say that what we have been thinking all along, this is an accident, it never was a crime."

The victim's mother spoke to reporters following the verdict.

"I don't think there's any excuse for killing two beautiful, beautiful girls," the victim's mother Maria Caifa said. "So moving forward, that's what we need to start focusing on together with the Higbee family, who has suffered tremendously during this entire process as well. The State Police, all of us, we need to come together and figure out a better way to patrol, especially in residential areas."

"79.6 mph in a 35 mph zone should never be acceptable and considered what a reasonable officer would do or should do," Caifa said.

After the verdict, Higbee and Caifa spoke privately, but neither revealed what was said.

Higbee was facing up to 20 years in prison if convicted.

Higbee, who was suspendered for the past two and a half years, is hopeful he can be reinstated as a trooper.











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