Attorneys on Tuesday gave their opening statements in the trial of a man accused of murder and assault. Both sides agreed the defendant in the trial got behind the wheel while under the influence of alcohol and caused a wreck that left one dead and a teenager injured — but they disagree on whether the death should be called murder.

According to defense attorney John Edmond Mays, his client, Scotty Dale Moss, is willing to take the stand and accept responsibility for his actions. He said their defense includes Moss taking the stand and testifying that he did drink alcohol before driving, that he looked away from the road long enough to weave into oncoming traffic and that he struck the El Camino carrying Lloyd Jason Reed and Reed’s stepdaughter.

“He’s gonna take responsibility for what he did,” Mays said of Moss.

However, Mays said, the crime Moss plans to testify he’s guilty of will not be among the four counts listed on his indictment. Moss was indicted in June 2019 on charges of reckless murder, manslaughter, first-degree assault and DUI (alcohol).

Mays said Moss should instead be found guilty of criminally negligent homicide. Under Alabama law, if the criminal negligence involves driving under the influence, the crime is a Class C felony, meaning Moss would face between one and 10 years for the crime. If found guilty of reckless murder, he would face up to life in prison.

Conflicting perception of evidence

Which charge best applies was not the only disagreement between the prosecution and defense. Mays described the two sides as having “sharply different views of the facts.”

According to Limestone County Assistant District Attorney Bill Lisenby, the evidence in the case will show Moss was driving more than 100 mph in a GMC Envoy just seconds before the crash, which “basically destroyed the driver’s side” of the El Camino in an “angular head-on collision.” Moss’ blood-alcohol concentration was .144, nearly twice the legal limit, in part because he had drank half a pint of Fireball cinnamon whisky before driving, Lisenby said.

The ADA also noted Moss had another drug in his system, which Lisenby didn’t name but described as a depressant that would have further impaired Moss’ ability to react or to safely operate a vehicle. After the wreck, Lisenby said, Moss initially denied driving the vehicle.

Mays painted a different tale for jurors, saying the defense’s evidence and witnesses will show Moss was not driving 100 mph, was not impaired by medication and did take responsibility the night of the wreck. He said Moss signed a consent form for the blood test to determine his BAC and, while in an Alabama Law Enforcement Agency vehicle on his way to the hospital for the test, told the trooper repeatedly, “I killed someone. My life is over.”

As for the drugs and alcohol, Mays said Moss purchased the Fireball in Athens and there was an empty pint bottle in his vehicle after the wreck, but it was a bottle that had been shared with multiple people. Meanwhile, the medication is a prescription Moss has taken for years, according to Mays, with no effect on his ability to drive.

Sadie takes the stand

After opening arguments, the passenger in Reed’s vehicle, Mercedes “Sadie” Norman, took the stand to share her experience from that night. She told the courtroom that she and her stepdad were working together on a bathroom remodel and decided to get in her older sister’s El Camino to get supplies from Walmart and Lowe’s in Athens.

The now-18-year-old said she’d known Reed since she was about 2. Family members have previously described the two as like father and daughter, and Norman being like a “sidekick” to Reed.

Norman testified that on Oct. 2, 2018, after leaving Lowe’s, she and Reed got stuck in the parking lot for a little while because the door on the El Camino jammed. When they left, it was still daylight, and she recalled driving down U.S. 72, then turning on Zehner Road.

The next thing she recalls is waking up in the dark, “scared, confused, woozy … too scared to move,” she said. She remembered her cousin and his wife coming up to the vehicle. According to attorneys, they had been at Moss’ residence, one of the “seven or eight” people hanging out there and drinking.

The wreck was so close to Moss’ home, the couple heard the crash and were able to walk to the scene, attorneys said. Norman said she remembered asking for help getting out of the car, then riding in a helicopter to Huntsville Hospital, where she would stay for about a week.

More than two years later, on the witness stand in the Limestone County Courthouse, she described her injuries after the accident, including brain hemorrhaging and broken bones, and how she still deals with the aftermath. Norman said she has arthritis and occasional bouts of facial twitching and head pain.

Her mother told The News Courier in April 2019 that Norman experienced anxiety attacks months after the wreck but made it a point to return to school because education meant so much to Reed, who never got to graduate.

Norman told jurors she will graduate Friday from Alabama Connections Academy.