photo gallery

Suspected DWI driver Nicole Baukus sentenced to 38 years

By Daamali Keith - MyFoxHouston.com

August 3, 2013

HOUSTON (FOX 26) - The woman charged with intoxication manslaughter after driving the wrong way and killing two teenagers has been sentenced to 38 years in prison. The case went to the jury just before 4 p.m. Nicole Baukus was the last person to take the stand. She sobbed as she told jurors she had no memory of driving that night.

"She wants you to believe she doesn't remember a thing, but she had enough snap to tell the police officers she wasn't driving. She had enough snap to tell a buddy she was pulled over throwing up," Prosecutor Warren Diepraam told jurors in closing arguments.

A friend of Baukus' testified he had a couple of telephone conversations with Baukus and in the last one she told him she was "on the side of the road throwing up on herself".

That was just minutes before the fatal crash.

Surveillance video in a Montgomery County bar shows Baukus consuming 21 alcoholic drinks then stumbling to her pick up truck and driving away. Cameras on the freeway also caught Baukus driving the wrong way on I-45 that early morning June 29, 2012. Around 3 a.m. Baukus slammed into another car killing the driver 19-year old Nicole Adams and the backseat passenger 18-year old Travis Saunders. Front seat passenger David Porras survived. Baukus' blood alcohol level was .30. That's nearly four times the legal limit of.08.

Baukus told the jury a few months ago she wrote a suicide note and considered killing herself after this fatal crash.

She cried on the stand saying "I don't deserve to be here. I should have died in that crash. They were innocent. I wasn't".

"The best thing for this community is to get her out of it. Keep her out of it as long as possible. When you do what she did you won't get to go home," Prosecutor Andrew James told the jury.

Baukus' dad also testified saying he too has a history of getting caught drunk driving.

After the crash Baukus was found to have marijuana and valium in her system and a glass drug pipe in her pick up truck.

Prosecutors showed the jury photos of Baukus posing with alcohol and drugs.

"Alcohol, drugs, marijuana, partying. That's what sort of a person she is. She's an overindulgent party girl," prosecutors called her.

They also called her a sometimes "drug dealer."

Baukus testified she often bought marijuana from her brother. There was also a text message on Baukus' cell phone from her friend asking for Valium.

Baukus told jurors she can understand the pain of the loved ones of the teens she killed. Baukus' high school boyfriend was killed while riding a car with a young man who had been "huffing" computer cleaner and passed out at the wheel.

Jurors also heard a jailhouse recording of Baukus' dad Russell telling her an attorney was in the process of taking care of her Facebook page. Within hours of the crash that page was deleted but prosecutors were able to salvage pictures and posts.

"They tried to prevent you from knowing what she's really like. They tried to destroy her Facebook so that y'all can't see it," Diepraam told jurors.

Baukus has two previous convictions including being a minor in possession of alcohol and assault. A Houston Police Officer also testified on Baukus' behalf. The Houston crash investigator told the court he had gone on two dates with Baukus including to dinner just before she went to that bar and started drinking for about five hours.

When prosecutors asked the Houston officer about text messages between him and Baukus regarding her drinking and drugging he said, "Yes, she texted saying she drinks a lot, almost every night and on the weekends."

There was also a text message between the two about Baukus smoking marijuana but the officer says he initially didn't know Baukus was referring to using marijuana.

Baukus could be sentenced to as little as two years probation or as much as fifty years in prison.

Saunders' dad, Fred Saunders, says anything less than the maximum will be an injustice.

"I want my son back. I know that can't happen. I still have his picture on my sun visor in my car. I still think about him and cry. I don't think she's a monster. I think she's a party girl," and Saunders says it's time for Nicole Baukus' party to end with the jury putting her in prison for decades.

'I should've died in that crash': Drink-driving woman, 23, who killed two teens in wrong way crash sobs as she's jailed for 38 YEARS

• Nicole Baukus, 23, faced up to 60 years in prison

• Texas sports bar that served driver pays $1million settlement to victims in separate case

• 19-year-old Nicole Adams and her passenger Travis Sanders, 18, were killed when pick up truck hit their car in head on collision

• Prosecutors slammed Baukus as 'overindulgent party girl'

• Jurors also heard testimony from defendant's father and friend

By Jessica Jerreat and Snejana Farberov - DailyMail.co.uk

August 3, 2013

A Texas woman who caused a deadly crash after consuming 21 drinks in four hours and driving the wrong way on a highway was sentenced to 38 years in prison Friday.

In a surprise move Thursday, Nicole Baukus, 23, changed her plea to guilty and was sentenced on two counts of vehicular manslaughter homicide and one count of vehicular assault.

Before entering a guilty plea, Baukus, from Spring, faced up to 60 years in prison.

The wrong-way crash that took place in June 2012 on the North Freeway in Montgomery County left two teenagers dead and a third seriously injured.

During the sentencing hearing Friday afternoon, jurors heard testimony from an emotional Baukus, who sobbed on the stand, saying; 'I don’t deserve to be here. I should have died in that crash also.

‘They did not deserve to die. I did. They were innocent.’

In her testimony, the 23-year-old talked about the her high school boyfriend, who died in 2007 in a DUI crash, telling the jury and members of the audience that she never wanted to put anyone through that.

She also revealed to the jurors that a few months ago, she wrote a suicide note and planned to kill herself.

Recalling the fateful night of June 29, 2012, Baukus said that she did not remember downing 21 shots before getting behind the wheel of her truck. She had previously claimed that she had been drugged.

The jury also heard from the defendant's friend, who testified that he had several phone conversations with Baukus on the night of the crash, in the last of which she told him that she was on the side of the road 'throwing up on herself,' MyFox Houston reported.

Just moments later, at around 3am, Baukus slammed her vehicle head on into another car, killing the driver, 19-year old Nicole Adams, and the backseat passenger, 18-year old Travis Saunders. Front seat passenger David Porras suffered severe injuries but pulled through.

A toxicology test determined that the 23-year-old had a blood alcohol level four times the legal limit.

She also had marijuana and Valium in her system, and police found a glass drug pipe in her car.

In his closing arguments, prosecutors Warren Diepraam and Andrew James called Baukus an 'overindulgent party girl' and a sometimes 'drug dealer.'

"The best thing for this community is to get her out of it. Keep her out of it as long as possible. When you do what she did you won't get to go home,’ James told the jury.

The station KAKE reported that Baukus’ father took the stand before the jury began deliberations, talking about his own problems with alcohol and about his daughter, at one point saying, ‘I'm just happy she's alive. She should be dead too and I can't imagine how the victims' families feel.’

Fred Sanders, the father of crash victim Travis Sanders, sat through all the testimony and said he does not believe Baukus was truly remorseful for her actions.

‘I didn't think it was for us. I didn't think it was for our kids, those three innocent kids. That wasn't for them; that was for the jury. It was for her cause she's afraid she's going to jail,’ he told the TV station Click2Houston.

Footage from a Texas bar shows a 23-year-old woman consuming 21 drinks before she drove home the wrong way down a highway, killing two teenagers in a head-on crash.

A court was told earlier this week that Baukus drank four bottled beers and 21 'shooters', or spirit mixers, in about four and a half hours, before getting in her pick up truck and causing the fatal crash.

Prosecutors at her trial showed video footage of Baukus drinking at the On the Rox sports bar and of her pick up truck traveling the wrong way down a highway in Conroe, on June 29, last year.

As an emergency physician who attended to the two victims in the crash testified to their grievous injuries, Baukus broke down in court Wednesday -- so much so that a 10 minute recess was called.

District Court Judge Michael T. Seiler then warned her not to repeat the behavior.

'We can’t have that kind of disruption,' he said.

She is accused of crashing head on into a car being driven by Nicole Adams, killing the 19-year-old and her back seat passenger, Travis Sanders, 18, according to KHOU News.

A third passenger, 21-year-old David Porras, was seriously injured in the crash, which happened just before 3am.

In court Wednesday, prosecutors played emergency calls from other drivers as they reported seeing a pick up truck traveling the wrong way.

Before police could stop Baukus, the fatal collision took place. An hour after the crash her blood-level alcohol was more than three times the legal limit. Prosecutors also claim she had drugs in her system.

Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission agent Oscar Williams told the court Baukus had consumed beer and shooters at On the Rox, from 9:19pm to 1:46am.

He said that a tray of shooters was seen being delivered to her table just after midnight, which violated the Texas commission's rules, according to The Courier of Montgomery County.

'Only two open beverages can be sold to one customer at a time,' he said.

In April the bar agreed to a $1million settlement for Mr Porras, who is still having surgery from injuries caused in the crash, and to the estate of Miss Adams and Mr Sanders.

Porras has had 13 operations since the accident and has no teeth in his upper jaw after the bone was smashed when he hit the dashboard.

The bar was sued for violating the Texas Dram Shop Liability Act, which provides a cause of action against any bar that serves an obviously intoxicated adult, the Villager reported.

At her vehicular manslaughter trial, prosecutor Andrew James told the court: 'As the trooper was questioning her, he noticed she would just randomly be laughing at times, like this was all one big joke.'

Baukus pleads guilty in fourth day of trial

Posted by Scott Engle - MontgomeryCountyPoliceReporter.com

August 2, 2013

By Taylor Tanner

Around 3 a.m. on June 29, 2012, an intoxicated Nicole Baukus drove north in the southbound lanes of I-45 after entering on the Research Forest exit ramp. Her taillights were caught on TranStar video at some points. Barely missing the vehicle of Arnes Buchanan and Keeleigh Mackay, she proceeded to accelerate to approximately 65 mph and cut in front of his path.

From there, Baukus crashed head-on into a Chevy Aveo containing three young adults on their way home. Two of the victims, Nicole Adams, 19, and Travis Saunders, 18, perished in the crash while the life of the third victim, then 21-year-old David Porras, will never be the same.

Porras, who lost his front teeth and the entire bone between his gums and nasal passage, has undergone more than a dozen facial reconstructive surgeries with more to come.

When asked what life was like without his two closest friends, Porras stated, “I know this sounds dramatic, but it’s not much of a life at all.”

On July 29, thirteen months after the fatal crash, Baukus stands trail. With defense attorney Michael McDougal by her side, she pled not guilty. After four days of trial, Baukus changed her plea to guilty and elected to allow a jury of her peers to decide upon her punishment.

Charged with two counts of Intoxication Manslaughter and one count of Intoxication Assault with the possible addition of a deadly weapons charge, Baukus faces a maximum of 20 years for each manslaughter charge and 10 years for the assault charge. Baukus already has six previous car accidents on her record.

Assistant District Attorneys Andrew James and Warren Diepraam are prosecuting. Baukus arrived at On the Rox Sports Bar and Grill at 9:15 p.m. on the night of June 28, 2012. Once inside, she met her friend and her roommate, who worked at the bar, and had her first drink at 9:23 p.m. Over the next five hours, she consumed 21 alcoholic beverages and at 2 a.m. on June 29, she stumbled through the parking lot to her truck.

Witness for the state Oscar Williams, a TABC agent and certified peace officer, watched the video of Baukus in the bar numerous times, identifying those around her and counting drinks.

In the video, she demonstrated definite signs of intoxication, stumbling around and into people and tables.

Eyewitness Keeleigh Mackay, a passenger of the vehicle Baukus almost struck, made the call to 911 around 3 a.m., alerting police and emergency responders. Already aware of a wrong way driver, the police were quick to respond and Shenandoah officer Todd Schmaltz soon arrived.
Officer Schmaltz found Baukus leaning against the passenger side of her F-150, left foot bleeding with the shoe and sock missing. He asked who was driving and Baukus, drunk and smelling strongly of alcohol, told him that a man had been driving but that she did not know where he was or even his name.

She was also demonstrating some surprising actions for someone who had been in a serious head on collision. Baukus was laughing and giggling to herself; unable to explain what she found so funny after two lives had just been lost.

Schmaltz began to investigate the scene, looking for the man Baukus had claimed was driving. He could not be found.

Yet, the officer did find a bloody sock and shoe in the driver’s floorboard, as well as discovering a deployed airbag on the driver’s side.

As expert witness, DPS Trooper Michael Chapman explained, the “black box” in her truck would sense whether or not a passenger was in the seat and would deploy the airbag based on that.

A forensics expert called by the state found Baukus’ DNA on the sock, wheel and airbag. Eyewitness Buchanan also testified that he could see only one person in the vehicle when it cut across his lane before crashing into the Aveo.

Montgomery County Sheriff’s Deputy Reuvers was the first to arrive on scene and, after being told by Baukus that she was not the driver, he proceeded on to the Aveo. Bystanders had already pulled Porras from the vehicle, but it was the bodies of Nicole Adams in the front seat and Travis Saunders in the back seat that he was left to discover.

The roof of the Aveo was mangled, as was most of the driver’s side. The Jaws of Life were necessary to extract the two victims.

They were already obviously deceased from injuries including skull fractures and blunt fore trauma to the abdomen and chest.

The story Baukus told soon changed when medics arrived and she admitted driving the vehicle. She also admitted, when she was at Hermann Memorial Hospital in the Woodlands, that she had been drinking.

While Porras was next door being treated for his extensive injuries, including broken vertebrae, Baukus was complaining about having her clothing cut off by the nurses and about having to remove her rings.

Dr. Field, a general surgeon at Hermann Memorial, was tending to both Porras and Baukus. Her behavior startled Dr. Field just as much as it had Officer Schmaltz. He believed she was unaware of what had happened, so he told her she had killed two people and seriously injured another.

News like that could have been sobering. Some might expect denials, questions as to just what had happened, maybe confusion from the heavily intoxicated woman.

Baukus simply laughed.

At 4:20 a.m., her blood was drawn and her blood-alcohol level tested at .265, more than three times the legal limit of .08. She was tested again at 5:34 a.m., at which time the test read .204.

Expert witness Michael Manes, toxicology lab manager for the Houston Police Department, calculated that at the time of the crash, her blood-alcohol level was probably closer to .3.

Forty-three nanograms of diazepam, more commonly known as Valium, was also found in her blood. Manes labels this as a low therapeutic dose, but a doctor did not prescribe it.

Baukus claimed that she had been drugged and was not in control of herself at the time of the crash. However, this line of defense was dropped when she changed her plea to guilty on the fourth day of the trial.

Still, prosecutors James and Diepraam continue calling witnesses.

After the testimony of David Porras, which left the courtroom in tears, the mother of Travis Saunders was asked to testify. She told of every parent’s nightmare: being told by state troopers that a drunk driver had killed her child.

Travis, who had just become an uncle, was torn away prematurely, his life cut short. Travis, who had just graduated high school, was a bright young man with big dreams, doing anything he could to help anyone who needed it.

“Travis was cheated,” she said. “None of us deserve this.”

Nicole Adams’ father also took the stand, telling of his daughter who did everything she could to help her mother through the aftermath of her surgeries. He visits his daughter’s grave two or three times a week, the only way he can visit her now.

The families’ pain was clear. However, all they can do now is wait to hear the jury’s decision regarding her punishment.

On the fourth day of trial, the prosecution rested. On Friday, the defense will have time to call their witnesses before the jury is allowed to deliberate on just what Nicole Baukus’ sentence shall be.

Day 3 of wrong way trial winds down

Just after 5:30 pm Day 3 of the wrong way driver trial of Nicole Baukus wound down. The day had several experts testify including Woodlands Trooper Mike Chapman. Chapman who has been with DPS starting out in the Drivers License has progressed rapidly. After becoming a trooper he was certified in all six categories of accident investigation and is an also an instructor for other troopers in crash investigation.

He explained how from the “Black Box” in the victims vehicle he was able to determine they reacted one half second before impact with only enough time to let off the accelerator. At that point they were moving more than 200 feet per second.

Texas Ranger Wendi Wakeman demonstrated on prosecutor Warren Diepraam how she swabbed Baukus for DNA when she arrived at the Montgomery County Jail with Trooper Jay Smith after being released from the hospital.

A analyst from DPS explained how she removed the air bag from the Baukus vehicles drivers side and found Baukus’s blood on it as well as the arm rest and the left sock embedded in the floor board of her truck.

One again the number 21 came up. This time it wasn’t in reference to the number of drinks Baukus had but the chances of the DNA not being hers. The analyst said the chances were 1 in 2 sextillion that the blood was not a match for Baukus. When asked what that number even looked like she said there were 21 zero’s after it. (2,000,000,000,000,000,000,000).

Dr. Field with Hermann Hospital took the stand telling of the injuries he treated on both Baukus and Porras. He said Porras, upper jaw was shattered as was the bone and him losing all his upper teeth when the dashboard hit him in the face. He also spoke of his other neck injuries and having to continue going through surgeries. Dr. Field said Baukus had some fractures in her foot and other abrasions. At the time he did not think anyone had told Baukus that she had killed two people as she was laughing. He was shocked when he broke the news to her and she laughed.

Video from “On the Rox” was also released today. We have edited it down from over 6 hours on 15 cameras to one camera in 20 minutes showing her taking each drink. Also at the 16 minute mark you see her leaving the club staggering across the parking lot.

The trial will begin at 9 am Thursday and MCPR will once again be there.

Day two of wrong way driver trial recesses until Wednesday

The case of the I-45 wrong way driver that happened just over thirteen months ago has just ended it’s second day. This morning prosecutor Andrew James presented a video which was captured from a freeway camera of Baukus entering the freeway at 2:57 a.m. going the wrong way. You can see her tail lights as she travels north bound in the southbound lanes.

An old friend of Baukus’s, Arnes Bucanan from Oak Ridge High School who is in the Marines Reserves and works in the oilfields was southbound on 45 just before 3 am when he saw a vehicle stopped facing the wrong way angled toward him. Thinking it was a police officer he slowed down. As he approached it the vehicle his path at a forty five degree angle to the second lane of the freeway. He was able to hear the acceleration over his truck exhaust. He was able to see only one person in the vehicle as it passed just past his left side, he said it appeared the person was in the passenger seat. He then saw the impact as Baukus hit the victims vehicle. He watched it spin emitting sparks. He pulled over and ran back to the crash. He stated Baukus was still in the vehicle. He then ran back to the car that was struck. He said the driver wasn’t moving and appeared her arm was missing. He was so upset he just went and sat down on the side of the road. He later learned he had gone to school with Bakus.

Huey Mackey was riding with Buchanan and called 911. She told the 911 operator that she was on I-45 right where 242 goes under the bridge. At that point the 911 operator interrupted her telling her they already had reports of the driver going northbound on the south bound. She asked if they were already past the 242. Mackay stated, “no, we are stopped right now, we are on the highway. Once again she was interrupted. The operator told her, “I understand, where did you last see him?’”

That is when MacKay said, “no, this guy jumped straight up the on ramp, the exit ramp, the opposite way on the exit ramp. He just nailed a car”.

Deputy Reuvers who is now a Shenandoah police officer was with the Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office at the time testified what he had seen as being the first officer on the scene.

Trooper Ortega was first to the scene, Trooper Brack arrived about the same time. He said Baukus was on the passenger side of her truck outside of it being treated by medics.

He explained his observations on Baukus and how he determined she was intoxicated.

Oscar Williams with TABC took the stand and after presenting a time card from Bikini’s Bar on Interstate 45 where Baukus worked was able to form a timeline of her moves. This included her getting off at 5:38 p.m. and meeting her friend Maygen Bates at “On the Rox” at 6:13 p.m.

Williams then went on to explain explained what each drink was and at what time it was served to her. Several of the shots were mixes of Red Bull and alcohol. The two that she drank most of were “Vegas Bomb’s” and “Star F***ers”. He explained that alcohol being a depressant and Red Bull a stimulant and cause the body to react in a way that takes the alcohol longer to feel affects. He noted before midnight most of the drinks were served by wait staff including her roommate Jessica Poitinger, or the bar manager. After that nine of the drinks were from friends including one male who returned to the table with over a dozen shots on a tray. The maximum allowed by TABC is two at a time. In addition she helped herself to a beer from another table.

Williams also pointed out on the video that close to 2 am Baukus stumbled and fell into a table and chair, got up spun and fell into a table.

At 1:58 am she left the bar. As she walks out stumbling and staggering very bad. Which is depicted on camera.

Baukus gets into the drivers seat of her Ford F-150 pickup and a friend Romi Flowers got into passenger seat. They drove about 100 feet stopped and Flowers got out and got into another vehicle.

At 2:02 a.m. Baukus drove out of the parking lot.

Prosecutors still have not been able to determine where Baukus was for almost an hour before entering the wrong way on the freeway.

Williams viewed the 8 hours of video several times and was not able to see anything put in her drink eliminating the possibility of her being drugged.

The trial recessed just after 5:30 pm Tuesday and will continue on Wednesday.

Assistant District Attorney Warren Diepraam said afterwards he was pleased the way the trial was going.

When asked about what Baukus could be facing if found guilty, Diepraam said she can get 2 to 20 years in prison for each of the two intoxication manslaughters and 2 to 10 years for the intoxication assault. If she was given probation she could get up to ten years.

However, Diepraam said if found guilty the judge has the power to stack the sentences. This means, for example, that if she would be given 20 years for each intoxication manslaughter and 10 years for the intoxication assault. Those sentences, instead of running together, concurrent, could be added to each other.

Also since a vehicle is considered a deadly weapon in a case like this Baukus’s maximum sentence could be 50 years. But to be eligible for parole which with a finding of a deadly weapon.

she would have to complete at least one of the full 20 –year sentences and then half of the next 20-year sentence before she would be eligible for parole.

First day of wrong way trial ends

Posted by Scott Engle - MontgomeryCountyPoliceReporter.com

July 29, 2013

The first day of the trial of Nichole Baukus ended at 5:30p.m. today. It was 2 p.m. before a jury was selected and after a one hour lunch the two charges of intoxication manslaughter and one count of intoxication assault were read to the jury by Assistant District Attorney Warren Diepraam, head of the Montgomery County Vehicular Crimes Unit. He also added the clause where a vehicle is considered a deadly weapon. If this is proven true and Baukus is convicted and sentenced to prison she will be required to do half of her time before she is eligible for parole.

Baukus, plead not guilty to all charges.

Diepraam was followed by Assistant District Attorney Andrew James who is also part of the Vehicular Crimes Unit. As he showed a photo of the crash, he told the jury that thirteen months ago today, this is what the county woke up to, death and destruction. He told them of the southbound lanes still closed, and traffic was backed up as far as the eye could see.

The crash ended the lives of Nicole Adams, 19 of Conroe, her friend, Travis Sanders, 18, of Houston. A third person in the vehicle Baukus struck was David Porras, 21 of The Woodlands. He survived but still has no upper teeth as the bone was damaged when the dash board hit him in the face. He has had thirteen surgeries and is facing more.

He told the jury that at 9:15 pm Baukus arrived at “On the Rox”, a sports bar on Sawdust Road. There she met her friend Meagan. They both walked in and started ordering their drinks from a a friend of theirs, Jessica who not only worked there but was Baukus’ roommate. Over the next four hours Baukus consumes four beers and seventeen shots. Video at the club provided exact times of the drinks.

The timeframe for beer and shots were as follows:

6:15 pm
923 pm
1008 pm
1009 pm
1016 pm
1037 pm
1047 pm
1125pm
1130 pm
1158 pm
1159 pm
1205 am
1220 am
1235 am
1236 am
1237 am
1255 am
130 am
131 am
145 am
146 am

Baukus then stumbled out of the bar at 2 a.m. She got into her truck and drove off.

It is unknown what she did from 2 a.m. until the crash just before 3 a.m. when, as captured on Northstar video she entered the freeway going northbound in the southbound lanes at Research. She drove on the shoulder for a short time. As she topped the hill at SH 242 she missed striking another vehicle. The driver of that vehicle witnessed the crash as she looked back and stopped to help.

Since calls came in the Montgomery County Sheriff’s Dispatcher alerted units of the vehicle going the wrong way. Montgomery County Sheriff’s Department Deputy Reuvers was first on the scene within minutes as he was in the immediate area heard the call and responded only to be told seconds later there was a crash. He first went to the Ford F-150 and found Baukus leaning against it. She told he she was not the driver. Reuvers then moved further north looking for an ejected victim and found Nicole and Travis slumped over in the seat, dead, in the vehicle which had been struck head-on. Several people stopped and had already pulled Porras out of the vehicle.

Cody Harmon arrived next followed by Shenandoah Officer Todd Schmaltz. Schmaltz also approached Baukus and asked who was driving , she stated a man was but she didn’t know his name. Looking inside, Schmaltz, an experienced investigator that came from Orange County California and had worked with Missouri City Police Department noticed Baukus was not wearing a left shoe or sock.

After looking inside the truck he spotted the bloody sock on the drivers floor board along with the shoe. He also noticed only the drivers side airbag was deployed. If someone had been in the passenger seat that bag would have also been activated. When he asked where she was. Baukus thought she was at FM 2920 and Interstate 45 some ten to fifteen miles south of the crash scene.

She continued to deny her being the driver.

As Schmaltz was talking n his cell phone to a DPS Trooper en route to the crash scene he noticed Baukus smiling and laughing, when he asked what was so funny, she stopped.

When MCHD medics arrived her story changed. She told the medics she indeed was the driver of the vehicle.

She was then transported to Memorial Hermann in the Woodlands. While there she consented to a blood draw. That blood, drawn almost an hour after the crash was at .265, the legal limit is .08. Once again close to 5:30 am her blood was drawn again and this time tested at .204 this also showed a small amount of valium.

As a DPS Trooper questioned her she kept laughing.

One of the attending physician’s hearing this took it upon himself to tell her she just killed two people. She responded by laughing once again.

She was released from the hospital hours later and booked into the Montgomery County Jail.

Defense Attorney Mike McDougal then addressed the jury so quietly that even prosecutors were unable to hear what was said.

The first witness called to the stand was Officer Schmaltz.

Shenandoah Officer Todd Schmaltz who is now back with the Orange County Sheriff’s Office, took the stand and testified to what the DA had told the jury in the opening statement.

At 5:30 pm Judge Seiler recessed until 9 am on Tuesday.

Baucus, left the courtroom flanked by both her mother and father who tried their best to block their daughter from news camera’s.