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Dr. Yurich’s wife recalls night of boat crash
By Justin Wier
YOUNGSTOWN
Dr. Angelina Rodriguez, wife of Dr. Joseph Yurich, became tearful as she recalled the moment her husband learned someone died in a boat crash on Berlin Reservoir in 2015.
“Joe became severely psychologically distressed,” she said during testimony Monday in Mahoning County Common Pleas Court.
Dr. Yurich, 38, of Poland, faces several charges stemming from the May 9, 2015, boat crash that left one man dead and another man injured, including operating a watercraft while intoxicated, aggravated vehicular homicide and aggravated vehicular assault in addition to leaving the scene of an accident.
When she learned from a friend another boat had been hit earlier that evening, Dr. Rodriguez hesitated before sharing that with her husband.
“I was afraid to tell him because he was so emotionally distressed,” she said.
She said her husband said he was not sure what he hit when he arrived at home. When asked by the prosecutor if he mentioned hitting a rock, Dr. Rodriguez said no.
The defense has argued Dr. Yurich thought he hit a rock and sped home because he was worried the boat might sink. Lt. Gregory Johnson, chief of detectives for the Portage County Sheriff’s Department, testified that Dr. Yurich told him he thought he hit a rock the night of the accident.
Dr. Rodriguez described her husband as “upset, anxious and pretty shaken up” when he arrived at their house, but she maintained he showed no signs of having consumed alcohol.
Earlier Monday, the defense called Miles Beam III, a recreational boating accident investigator from Raleigh, N.C.
Beam corroborated some of the testimony of the prosecution’s expert. Both identified similar angles of impact, and both said the fishing boat occupied by Neal Cuppett, 58, of Akron, was not moving or moving very slowly at the time of the crash.
Beam, however, said there was not sufficient evidence to determine how fast the speedboat operated by Dr. Yurich was traveling.
Also, U.S. Coast Guard navigation rules require a boat being approached on the right side to move out of the way. Beam said the fishing boat should have made way for Dr. Yurich’s boat.
Beam also argued that a Coleman lantern on the fishing boat could have “blinded” Dr. Yurich and made it difficult to see the boat’s navigation lights.
The prosecution argued that Dr. Yurich could not have been blinded when he claimed he didn’t see lights.
Beam was retained by defense attorney Lynn Maro and said he was receiving $175 an hour for his services. His testimony began at 9 a.m. and concluded around 2:30 p.m.
The trial will resume at 9 a.m. today when Dr. Yurich is expected to testify.