Tampa jury hands down guilty verdict in DUI manslaughter trial
TAMPA, Fla. - It took a Tampa jury two hours on Thursday to hand down a guilty verdict for defendant Jorge Britton in his DUI manslaughter trial.
The jury convicted Britton on seven charges, including two counts of DUI manslaughter and two counts of vehicular homicide.
Prosecutors say in the early morning hours of December 15, 2021, Britton was driving drunk and caused a deadly crash on Interstate 4. The driver of a Toyota Camry, Douglas Kay Jr., and his passenger, Jason Rzechula, were both killed in that crash.
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Prosecutors say Britton was speeding, and when he changed lanes his Audi R-8, struck the Camry causing it to explode on impact. Kay and Rzechula died instantly.
Just before the jury was handed the case, Britton took the stand in his defense and denied he did anything wrong that night.
"I might’ve been a little bit careless but not reckless to the point that I could hurt someone – or, in fact, take the lives of two people, two irreplaceable people," he said during the trial.
Two women were in Britton’s sportscar with him that night, sharing the front passenger seat. They were not buckled in and suffered major injuries.
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Celellys Caputo and Iralys Valido remembered very little about the crash except for one thing.
"I don’t remember the speed, but I do remember he was going fast -- really fast," Caputo testified.
But Britton remembers it differently. He told the jury "if the speed limit was 55, I might have been going 15 maybe 20 miles over that," he recalled.
Prosecutor Darrell Dirks said it was more like 154 miles per hour and challenged Britton’s claim, asking him, "how about 154 miles per hour? Do you consider that fast?"
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"That’s fast," replied Britton.
Dirks continued to press Britton asking him, "were you traveling 154 miles per hour with two along with you that night?"
"No. I was not traveling at that speed with two people in my vehicle," Britton fired back.
Britton also downplayed the number of alcoholic drinks he had that night while at a Lightning game and later at a Tampa strip club.
"I know I was not impaired," he said.
His defense attorney, Jeff Brown, hammed that point for the jury.
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"If impairment means that your normal faculties are impaired, like the ability to walk, talk, judge distances, drive an automobile, knowing that, do you believe that you were impaired?" he asked Britton.
"No. I was not impaired," Britton insisted.
But the jury determined he was impaired, finding him guilty on all counts. Britton will be sentenced on May 25, and prosecutors will be asking for a life sentence.