Harlingen physician found not guilty in fatal auto-pedestrian crash

HARLINGEN, Texas ( ValleyCentral ) — A Harlingen physician was found not guilty in an auto-pedestrian crash that left a woman dead last year.

Dr. Ameer Hassan, a triple board-certified neurologist, was found not guilty of manslaughter in connection to the death of 73-year-old San Juana Benavides Sanchez.

An indictment charged Hassan with failing to yield the right of way to a pedestrian, and using a cell phone while driving.

On Monday afternoon, a jury found Hassan not guilty.

Jurors watched the complete video of the deadly crash and the aftermath. During the trial, a forensic pathologist took the stance, and announced her cause of death finding.

“CT evaluation revealed that there was a fracture of the left frontal bone of the skull which is here,” said Dr. Elizabeth Miller. “And the right parietal bone of the skull up here.”

Hassan’s defense team argued that Harlingen police did not handle the investigation properly. Defense attorney Dan Sanchez criticized a Harlingen PD investigator on how he performed his duties.

“All you did by being in there was tamper with the investigation, didn’t you,” Sanchez said. “And you want this jury to rely on your investigation to convict my client?”

ValleyCentral spoke with one juror, who said there were inconsistent statements coming from prosecution witnesses, particularly Harlingen police. That juror said that it did not seem like police took the investigation seriously.

The defense argued all along this was simply a tragic accident, and the jury ultimately agreed. Shortly before 2 p.m., jurors returned to the court, where the not guilty verdict was announced.

After the verdict, Hassan reiterated that it was a terrible accident’ and that he hopes Sanchez’s family can find peace.

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