Police suspected early on in their investigation into the death of 77-year-old Kikuko "Khris" Whann that the driver of the vehicle that hit her was under the influence of a chemical.

The first state trooper to the crash site on Aug. 24, 2006, on Holyoke Road, Center Township, got the initial impression that Samuel Tiche Jr. was drunk because he was swaying and glassie eyed.

But, the trooper didn't smell alcohol on Tiche. So he called in an expert trained to recognize the symptoms of other controlled substances.

A jury Tuesday heard from the investigators involved in that fatal crash as Tiche's trial continued into the second day. Tiche, now 65, is charged with six crimes, including homicide by vehicle while driving under the influence.

Prosecutors have said Tiche didn't avoid hitting Whann as she trimmed hedges in her yard because he was impaired by drugs, namely marijuana and a central nervous stimulant. Tiche's defense attorney has argued there are other possible reasons for Tiche's behavior that day and that Whann's death was a tragic accident, but not a criminal act.

The trial in Butler County Court, which began Monday, is being heard by Judge Tim McCune.

Trooper Timothy Morando was the first officer to reach Holyoke Road that day. He surveyed the scene, checked to see if Tiche was injured, and checked with the driver and the passenger in another vehicle who had witnessed the crash.

Then, he returned to where Tiche was sitting drinking from a jug of iced tea to interview him about what happed.

A different officer, accident reconstruction specialist Cpl. Robert Donaldson, told the jury that his investigation showed that from the time Tiche's sedan left the road near the intersection with Orchard Drive, it traveled 160 feet over two planters, two driveways, two yards, two sets of bushes and then hit a wall of bricks about the same time it hit Whann.

When it hit the bricks, the car was traveling 28 to 32 mph, he said. The car continued another 40 feet before stopping after hitting a mailbox.

Tiche told Morando that he had been run off the road, Morando testified. But, as he began to talk to the officer, Tiche was holding onto the tailgate of a pickup truck and swaying.

"When he was talking to me, he wasn't talking to me," Morando said. "It was like he was dazed and confused."

Without any indications of alcohol use, Morando suspected drugs, and called for Trooper Ronald Vetovich to help with the investigation. Tiche got in Morando's cruiser to travel to the barracks in Butler and Morando bent over Tiche to buckle the seat belt. That's when he smelled marijuana on Tiche, Morando testified.

At the police barracks, Tiche met with Vetovich, who is certified by the state police as a drug recognition expert. Vetovich took the defendant through a nine-step process to determine what types of drugs he may have in his system.

Those tests include looking at the defendant's pupils under different lighting conditions, taking his vital signs such as pulse, observing how the defendant behaves, and asking him to complete a number of so-called "divided attention tests." These tests are similar to the field sobriety tests police give to those they suspect of driving under the influence of alcohol.

For example, a suspect is asked to stand still with his hands to his sides, to tilt his head back, and to close his eyes for 30 seconds before opening them and telling the test administrator "stop."

Vetovich said he gave Tiche these tests and because of muscle tremors, an inability to follow instructions, abnormal vital signs, abnormal pupil reactions, and abnormal behavior, he determined Tiche was under the influence of marijuana and a central nervous stimulant.

When police asked Tiche to submit to a blood test, he refused at the barracks and again at the hospital, according to Morando.

Testimony will continue today with the cross-examination of Vetovich. Tiche's defense attorney, Michael Deriso has already raised questions about the validity of drug recognition experts.

The prosecution, led by assistant district attorneys B.T. Fullerton and Mark Lope, is expected to wrap up its case today.

The defense has said it's defense will include testimony from several witnesses, including experts and lay people.