QuickTake:

The first day of a manslaughter trial for 52-year-old Scott Stolarczyk included opening statements. The jury is set to begin hearing testimony Wednesday.

Opening arguments Tuesday, March 31, in the manslaughter trial of Scott Stolarczyk described his morning leading up to the fatal collision that killed Sharon Schuman, a professional violinist and well-known figure in Eugene’s arts community.

David Jampolsky, a prosecutor with the Lane County District Attorney’s Office, said the 52-year-old architect left his apartment at 9:40 a.m. and “within five minutes of being on the road” Stolarczyk’s vehicle “careens off” and strikes Schuman.

Schuman, 79, died after being struck while jogging on the Amazon Trail between 9:40 and 9:45 a.m, Jampolsky said.

Blood drawn at 10:26 a.m. showed Stolarczyk with a 0.19 blood alcohol concentration, which Jampolsky told the jury is “just shy of 2.5 times” the legal limit of 0.08. 

In addition to manslaughter, Stolarczyk has been charged with driving under the influence of intoxicants.

John Kolego, the defense attorney for Stolarczyk, told jurors about Stolarczyk’s morning before getting on the road.

At 8:30 a.m., Stolarczyk had a call that lasted about 53 minutes with another architect who will testify they observed “no evidence of impairment at all” while discussing Portland zoning regulations, Kolego said.

Kolego also said jurors will hear testimony from someone driving behind Stolarczyk along “S curves” before the vehicle left the roadway.

“He’s going to say Stolarczyk was driving perfectly normal,” Kolego said.

Then, “at some point, out of the blue, the car goes 90 degrees off the road,” Kolego told jurors.

Physical ailments

Kolego and Jampolsky both brought up coughing.

Jampolsky told jurors that Stolarczyk early on after the collision spoke about having a coughing fit and could be heard saying, “I think I passed out.”

But Jampolsky said that while Stolarczyk told a detective about a history of coughing and feeling lightheaded, “there’s going to be no record of him blacking out.”

Kolego also told jurors that Stolarcyzk told officers shortly after the crash, “I can’t explain this. I think I had a coughing fit.”

Jurors will hear testimony from a nurse practitioner about “a thing called syncope,” which Kolego described — very briefly — as being possibly caused by pressure on the diaphragm.

Jampolsky, in describing the white Toyota RAV4 he said was driven by Stolarczyk, held his hands in front, gesturing forward while facing jurors, telling them the car could be tracked as it moved 170 feet or so through grass with “no indication of slowing down.”

The Toyota RAV4 left Amazon Parkway near the intersection with 25th Avenue.

The vehicle’s airbag controls have information that will be presented to jurors, Jampolsky said.

In the two to three seconds before the collision, “there is compression on the accelerator,” Jampolsky said. “Someone is manipulating that accelerator as the car is driving through the grass.”