Trucker convicted of manslaughter, felony assault for crash that killed 7 farmworkers

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A 12-person jury on Wednesday unanimously found Lincoln C. Smith guilty of seven counts of second-degree manslaughter, three counts of third-degree assault and reckless driving for crashing a semi-truck into a van full of farmworkers on Interstate 5 near Salem, killing seven and seriously injuring three others.

Smith, 54, of Sacramento, was acquitted of a single charge of driving under the influence of intoxicants.

He sat still with his hands clasped as Marion County Circuit Court Judge Daniel J. Wren read out the jury’s verdict.

Jurors found Smith was driving recklessly when he fell asleep at the wheel and caused the crash on May 18, 2023, but was not impaired by the methamphetamine and cocaine he used the night before.

On the assault convictions, Wren said the jurors answered “No” to a secondary question asking whether he was under the influence at the time. 

Smith looked solemnly at the jurors as they each confirmed their verdicts to the judge.

Wren thanked the jurors for their service, telling them, “I can only imagine the impact this has had on your guys’ life.”

He also thanked the victims’ families for honoring the rules of the court throughout the trial. 

The judge did not immediately schedule a date for Smith’s sentencing. He asked Marion County prosecutors and Smith’s attorneys to schedule a status conference sometime next week, saying it was likely that many people would want to make a statement at the sentencing hearing.

The eventual sentencing will bring finality to one of the most horrific crashes to ever occur in Marion County.

After the judge ended the proceedings on Wednesday, Smith’s attorney Tiffany Humphrey, put her arm around his shoulders.

Jurors listened to five days of testimony by witnesses including police officers, surviving victims and Smith himself.

Their task was to decide whether the drugs Smith took the night before the crash were still affecting him when he plowed into the van, or whether he consciously disregarded the risk of his driving conduct.

Under state law, the manslaughter conviction means jurors found that Smith showed “a gross deviation from the standard of care that a reasonable person would observe in the situation.”

Smith, a truck driver for 17 years, had been on the job for around six hours when the crash occurred.

Smith testified that he started feeling tired on the freeway after making several stops in the Eugene area. He said he tried pulling into two truck stops that were full and was planning to exit at the next rest stop when he fell asleep.

But prosecutors argued that between Eugene and the crash scene, there were six truck stops, 14 exits and two rest areas where Smith could have pulled over.

Eleven farmworkers had worked on a farm that day and were heading in a van to homes in the Salem and Woodburn area when the driver, Adan Garcia-Garcia, pulled to the side of the interstate. 

He got out to check on a trailer attached to the back of the van when he saw a semi truck coming toward them on the side of the road. As he ran out of the way, the truck plowed into the van, crumpling it into another semi truck.

Prosecutors said during the trial that Smith was driving 65 miles per hour at the time and the impact of the crash propelled the van 218 feet ahead.

The van driver’s  brother, Josue Garcia-Garcia, 30, of Salem, and his nephew, Luis E. Gomez-Reyes, 30, of Woodburn, were among the passengers killed in the crash.

Three other passengers – Jose E. Solis Flores, Maria Flores-Martinez and Ibis Torres-Rangel – continue to suffer from serious injuries 20 months after the crash.

Smith was not seriously injured.

RELATED COVERAGE:

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UPDATE: Police say semitruck driver plowed into van on I-5, killing 7

Contact reporter Ardeshir Tabrizian: [email protected] or 503-929-3053.

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