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Witness recants his road rage testimony Chicago Sun-Times, November 28, 2001 BY CARLOS SADOVI CRIMINAL COURTS REPORTER A key witness in a road rage murder trial said Tuesday he couldn't remember telling a grand jury or police that he saw an altercation between a man driving an SUV and a bicyclist in 1999. The witness recanted his earlier testimony during the first day of trial in the road rage killing of Tom McBride, a 26-year-old bike messenger, on the West Side. Carnell Fitzpatrick, 31, who was behind the wheel of his 1997 Chevy Tahoe, is charged with first-degree murder in the Oak Park man's April 26, 1999, death. Defense lawyers say McBride's death was not murder but an accident. Fitzpatrick turned himself in to a family relative who is a Chicago police officer about 30 minutes after the accident, Sam Adam his defense lawyer said. ''There is no doubt that he drove the vehicle that killed the deceased. This is not a whodunit. The question is did he intend to,'' Adam said. ''It's a tragedy that occurs every day in this country. This was an accident.'' In court, Jerry Carter III, who lived near where McBride was killed in the 5300 block of West Washington, first refused to testify before Criminal Court Judge Kenneth Wadas. After Wadas ordered him to testify, Carter recanted his grand jury testimony and statements to police. Carter allegedly told police on the day of the accident and before a grand jury 10 days later that the altercation began when the SUV driven by Fitzpatrick failed to fully stop at a stop sign at the intersection of Loral and Washington and almost hit the bicyclist. He initially said the SUV zigzagged behind McBride, then sped up and bumped the bike's rear tire before running him over and driving off. In court, Carter denied making any statements to investigators and said he saw the bicyclist taunting the SUV driver by failing to let him pass, and the driver ''accidentally hit him.'' |