Lawyer:

Everything else went silent when Deputy Dist. Atty. Robert Mestman lit into Janene Johns. The sniffling stopped, tears silently streamed down audience members’ faces, and all eyes were on him.

This was his last chance to convince jurors Johns was guilty of deliberately driving under the influence of prescription drugs and falling asleep at the wheel when she struck 31-year-old Candace Tift as she rode her bike on the sidewalk.

“Her pride, her selfishness and her poor judgment got in the way that day,” Mestman told jurors, his voice echoing through the courtroom. “If she had just not driven, or pulled over, she would not be on trial and Candace Tift would still be here.”

Tift’s and Johns’ families and friends filled the courtroom for closing arguments Monday. There was nary a dry eye in the audience.

“This is a tragic case. [Johns] is never going to forget that she caused this girl’s death,” defense attorney Gary Pohlson said during his closing arguments. “But this is not about feelings of proof. This is about real proof,” and the prosecution did not prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Johns was under the influence.

Prosecutors point to John’s interview with police shortly after the accident as proof she was under the influence; she told police she had taken the sleeping aid Ambien, the anti-anxiety medication Xanax and the cough-suppressant Mucinex the day of the crash. She said she knew she shouldn’t have been driving.

“This case is about responsibility and accountability. Janene Johns is responsible for Candace Tift’s death and it’s your job to find her responsible,” Mestman told jurors. He argued that police, who have no stake in the case, testified that Johns appeared under the influence of prescription drugs.

Pohlson countered that Johns’ mental condition could be mistaken for intoxication.

“What looks like a duck, walks like a duck, quacks like a duck, ain’t a duck in this situation,” he said.

Pohlson argued Johns was showing symptoms of an acute grief disorder, from the recent death of her husband. Psychiatrists testified it was possible Johns was unaware of what she was doing, or unconscious, when she lost control of her Lexus and hit Tift on West Coast Highway.

“The only time she might have been unconscious is when she fell asleep at the wheel,” Mestman said in rebuttal. “She fell asleep after taking a sleeping pill. Gee, I’m shocked.”

Pohlson reminded jurors that witness and police testimony showed Johns did not brake when she veered onto the sidewalk, took out a parking meter, hit Tift, plowed through a fire hydrant and crashed into a parked car.

“She made no effort to avoid Mrs. Tift. That’s because she didn’t know Mrs. Tift was there. If she had seen Mrs. Tift she would have done everything in her power to avoid her. She hit her dead-on because she was unconscious,” Pohlson said. “The total picture is a woman who was crying out for help who didn’t have the sense of how to get it herself. She’s crying out for help, she crashed. She went unconscious, she blacked out. She wasn’t under the influence. [Prosecutors] haven’t proved that by any stretch of the imagination.”

The jury begins deliberating today.

JOSEPH SERNA may be reached at (714) 966-4619 or at [email protected].