A friend of Larry Mahoney, the driver blamed for the nation's deadliest alcohol-related accident, testified Tuesday he took away Mahoney's keys because he had been drinking too much the night of the crash.
Taylor Fox said he saw Mahoney twice that night and that they had discussed driving to Burlington, a Cincinnati suburb."I thought he's been drinking and he doesn't have no business being on the road," Fox said. "I planned to take him to Burlington, anyway, so I just took the keys."
Mahoney, 36, is charged with 27 counts of murder in the crash the night of May 14, 1988. His pickup truck was traveling the wrong way on an interstate near Carrollton when it slammed into a bus, which exploded in flames.
Mahoney's lawyers have contended that Fox never took Mahoney's keys. They have said that "so-called friends" of Mahoney gave him beer and liquor that night, although he was known to have a low tolerance for alcohol.
Fox conceded under cross-examination that Mahoney was not staggering or slurring his words and did not otherwise appear to be intoxicated.
The first prosecution witnesses testified Monday that Mahoney was drinking the afternoon and evening of the crash - the nation's second-deadliest school bus crash.
Mahoney's lawyers maintained in opening arguments Monday that he wasn't solely responsible for the deaths of the 24 youngsters and three adults. They argued that unsafe design made the 1977 school bus a death trap.