Pago Pago, AMERICAN SAMOA — Jury instructions and opening statements for the jury trial of a man who is facing one count of vehicular homicide for the death of a man in his late 60s in June of 2017 began yesterday in High Court.

Folasa Galea’i, who is out on a $2,500 surety bond, is charged with vehicular homicide, a class D felony, punishable by a term of imprisonment of up to 5 years, a fine of up to $5,000, or both.

A six-member jury was selected this past Monday.

Galea’i is represented by Assistant Public Defender Rob McNeill, while prosecuting the case is Assistant Attorney General Laura Garvey.

According to the government’s case, it was around 2:15 pm on June 9, 2017 that the Department of Public Safety responded to a phone call about a car accident in the Fagaalu area and found a man was lying on one side of the road (mountain side) while an orange pick-up truck that had struck the cement wall next to the front gate of the Matafao school entrance was on the other — the section of the campus for children with disabilities (ocean side).

EMS personnel along with other police officers were trying to revive the victim by applying CPR and he was eventually taken to the LBJ Hospital by EMS for further treatment.

Police interviewed the victim’s wife who explained she saw her husband struck by an orange pick-up truck that came from the west side going east, traveling at a high speed, which caused her husband to roll to the side of the road.

According to the police investigation, the defendant’s car was traveling at a high speed, which caused the car to cross the double yellow lines in the middle of the road, until it reached the mountainside where the victim’s car was parked, and hit the victim, causing multiple injuries to his body, including his head and facial area.

When asked by officers regarding the incident, Galea’I told police that he fell asleep while he was driving. He said that he was heading to the Tax Office in Utulei to drop off some documents when the accident happened.

A certified mechanic evaluated the orange pick-up truck and stated in his report to police that the car was in good condition before the accident occurred.

A report from the LBJ Hospital on that same date informed police officers that the man, struck by the pick-up, had died due to multiple injuries to his head and facial area.

The trial resumes at 9:00 am today.

BACKGROUND

In 2014, Folasa Galea’i was sentenced by the late Associate Justice Lyle L. Richmond to two-years of probation and ordered to pay a fine of $1,000 after he was convicted of conspiracy to commit the offense of unlawful possession of a controlled substance, a misdemeanor.

His conviction stems from an incident that happened in May 2012, when Galea’i was accused by the government of claiming a package that came through the mail containing a large quantity of methamphetamine and marijuana that were found in four tomato cans.

When questioned about the package, Galea’i told police that it belonged to his uncle, but he refused to reveal his uncle’s name.