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Video expert says car was turned before hitting Madie Hart

Posted at 4:38 PM, Feb 13, 2018
and last updated 2018-02-13 19:27:15-05

CINCINNATI -- Briana Benson never took the stand in her own defense. 

Jurors spent just about an hour in court Tuesday, hearing the final testimony in Benson's trial. She's facing a charge of murder in the death of Saint Ursula Academy alumnus Madie Hart. Prosecutors said Benson, 20, hit Hart, 18, with her car last March and dragged her about a block down Walnut Street. Hart died after four days in a coma. 

The defense called its only witness Tuesday, local video expert Paul Jahn of Litigation Support Services. He slowed, zoomed and timelined the evidence. 

Jahn said the video showed the wheels were turned to the right before Benson accelerated and hit Hart. Prosecutors have said she swerved to hit Hart on purpose. They also too issue with some of Jahn's analysis and text he added to the video. 

The incident started as a brawl over a beef between two other girls. Benson told police she didn't even know Hart before that fight. Then, about 10 minutes after the fight broke up, Hart ran over and began hitting Benson's car. 

"The girl was coming, like she was running toward my car, hitting, and somehow I was stuck at the light," Benson told police. "You're going to see it on camera and she grabbed my car, hitting my car, everything happened on the right side."

Benson's attorneys argued the video only shows what happens outside the car, just one side of the story. 

"She was on the hood and I hit the brakes and she went to the right, and she was banging, just banging on my car, and I saw something black in her hands and I just, like, panicked," she told police.

But police and prosecutors point to dash cam video recorded by a nearby Uber driver, saying it shows Benson intended to hit Hart. They also said Benson's car blew through a red light the next block down, leaving Hart behind in the street. 

Hart's parents kept their heads down and ears plugged for many of the video replays in court. 

The prosecution and defense will make their final arguments Wednesday morning, and then the case will be in the hands of the jury.