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After a week-long trial, a local jury acquitted Rodney Arlen Ernest, 37, Isabella, of all six charges connected to the vehicle accident that claimed the life of William J. Evans, 55, or Litchfield.
The verdict came after five days of testimony in Cook County District Court on April 12, 2022. A late winter storm caused a one-day delay, allowing jurors to stay home. Some jurors lived in Grand Portage and near the end of the Gunflint Trail.
Judge Michael J. Cuzzo presided over the trial. Samuel J. Evans of Mendota Heights represented Ernest. Cook County Assistant Attorney Jeanne Monson represented the State of Minnesota, with Cook County Attorney Molly Hicken assisting Monson.
Ernest was acquitted of Criminal Vehicular Homicideoperating a vehicle with negligence under the influence of alcohol. He was also found not guilty of operating a motor vehicle in a grossly negligent manner, causing a collision and leaving the scene of an accident, failing to stop which led to a collision, and failure to notify police of personal injury and identify himself as the driver.
The accident happened sometime after 1 a.m. on November 7, 2020. According to the police report, Earnest was driving on the Six Hundred Road, near fire number 720, when he lost control of the vehicle, went off the road, rolled over, and struck a tree. Evans was thrown from the Ford truck, and Ernest found his friend on the ground outside of the vehicle. He said he checked on Evans but found that he had died. Because he was out of cellphone range, Ernest said he started to walk for help.
On November 7, 2021, a deer hunter called the Cook County Sherriff’s Office to report finding a presumed deceased person on the ground near a damaged black Ford Super Duty truck at Six Hundred Road, west of the Sawbill Trail, around 6 a.m. That same vehicle had been involved in a high-speed pursuit by police in Lake County overnight Friday. When the plates were run, it was found that the vehicle was registered to Rodney Arlen Ernest. A deputy observed the vehicle “driving all over the road” during that chase while speeding and running a stop sign. The deputy had his lights and siren activated while pursuing the vehicle, but the subject vehicle escaped and was not stopped. The pursuit, which began at 1:14 a.m. on November 7, 2020, ended at about 1:43 a.m.
At about 6 a.m. Cook County Sherriff’s Deputy Leif Lunde arrived on the accident scene, finding a deceased person with trauma to his head. According to the police report, “The accident scene indicated that the vehicle was traveling west on Six Hundred Road, east of fire number 720, in Cook County, Minnesota. It appears the driver lost control while navigating a left-had corner, went off the right side of the roadway, over-corrected and nearly went off the left side of the roadway, and over-corrected again and went off the right side of the roadway. As a result, the vehicle was airborne and made contact with the ground, rolling and eventually striking a tree. The deceased victim appeared to have been ejected from the vehicle passenger seat during the collision and was killed in the accident.”
Following the crash, Ernest left the scene and walked for miles before being picked up by a hunter passing through the area. According to the police report,“In a later statement to Cook County Sheriff’s Deputy Andrew Hayes, the driver estimated having picked up Ernest around 4:30 or 5 a.m. At no time during the ride did Ernest call or request the driver to call law enforcement.”
The hunter who picked up Ernest dropped him off at a residence in Finland and Ernest’s father-in-law picked him up and took him to his house. Ernest took a shower at his father-in-law’s and stated that he knew that law enforcement would be calling. Ernest called law enforcement at 8:38 a.m., and Deputy Hayes arrived at Ernest’s father-in-law at approximately 9:34 a.m.
Ernest admitted to Hayes he was the driver of the vehicle. In talking about the crash, Ernest told Hayes he thought his tire blew out and “he lost it” or crashed. When he found Evans wasn’t in the vehicle, he tried to revive him but couldn’t. Ernest told investigators he had been at a friend’s house in Schroder before the accident and had two beers and the accident occurred as he was on his way home. At that point, a Lake County Deputy informed Ernest that both Lake and Cook County were pursuing Ernest’s vehicle at approximately 1 a.m. When confronted with this information, Ernest changed his story. He admitted to going to The Lounge in Silver Bay, where he had a couple of drinks following his stop in Schroeder.
After leaving the Lounge, Ernest said he “passed a cop,” and once he saw the squad cars lights turn on, he “outran the cops,” driving to Honeymoon Road, and then the Two Island River Road, and then he “lost it” or crashed.
During his talk with Deputy Hayes, Hayes noticed Ernest had bloodshot and watery eyes.
Ernest told authorities he evaded the police because he had been drinking and feared getting caught would endanger his commercial truck driving license because he thought he was over .04 blood alcohol concentration. However, when the accident happened around 3:30 a.m., he had sobered up and was driving at a leisurely speed when he lost control of the truck and Evans was ejected. Quinn Strobl, the medical examiner, said Evans had perished from blunt force trauma to his head.
During the proceedings, 16 witnesses testified, and more than 70 exhibits were entered into the record. Witnesses came from the Minnesota State Patrol, the Midwest Medical Examiner, Cook County Sheriff’s Office, and Lake County Sheriff’s Office.
In a county press release County Attorney Molly Hicken said, “While we sought a different result in the interests of justice and on behalf of the victim’s memory, the State of Minnesota made a thorough presentation of the evidence and performed a professional level of advocacy.
“This defendant received a fair trial. Every criminal case, if unsolved, winds up in the hands of a jury to decide. Our justice system asks that we trust their verdict as the final outcome.”
Cook County Sheriff Pat Eliasen offered the following advice, “Excessive speed can lead to disaster due to poor braking distance caused by reduced tire friction. Losing control of a vehicle is also easy to do when going around corners too fast. Keep your attention not only on the road directly in front of you, but also as far as you can see in the distance due to the presence of animals and road obstructions.”
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