Hours of Drinking Preceded Auto’s Crash Into House That Killed Child, Court Told

Business associates of James Benjamin Masoner, accused of being drunk when his car crashed into a home, killing a 4-year-old girl as she slept, said in court that they drove Masoner home before the accident because he had been drinking for hours.

Testifying Friday at Masoner’s murder trial, insurance executives Daniel W. Monnin and Thomas J. Barber described March 4 as a day of mixing alcohol and business. It included cocktails during lunch at a Sunset Boulevard restaurant, moved to a reception on Wilshire Boulevard and ended moments after they dropped Masoner off at his car near his home.

As Monnin and Barber talked nearby, Masoner moved to the driver’s seat of his 1983 Chevrolet Camaro and started downhill on Broadlawn Drive, near Universal City, according to testimony. Investigators said he failed to make a sharp turn and crashed into a house in the 3800 block of Broadlawn Drive, killing Jessica Shaner, who was asleep on a sofa in the den.

Second-Degree Murder Charge

Masoner, 47, is being tried in Los Angeles Superior Court on charges of second-degree murder, gross vehicular manslaughter and felony drunk driving. Police said they measured his blood-alcohol level at 0.23% two hours after the crash, more than twice the California standard for drunkenness of 0.10%.

Masoner contends that his car went out of control because its accelerator jammed.

Monnin, 30, said he and Masoner met at Neal Lloyd & Co. West, an insurance office where Masoner worked as a salesman. Monnin is a vice president of company’s parent firm in Chicago and was in Los Angeles on business.

The two were joined by three other men, including Barber, at 12:30 p.m. for lunch at Le Dome on Sunset Boulevard. Masoner had two martinis during lunch, Monnin said.

Monnin said he drank “either two or three” Bloody Marys at lunch, and Barber, 47, told the Los Angeles Superior Court jury that he consumed three drinks made with scotch.

“We discussed some business and some small talk,” Barber said during questioning by prosecutor John K. Spillane. “We had a few cocktails, and then we had lunch.”

After eating, Monnin, Masoner, and another man went to the restaurant bar and began drinking champagne, said Monnin, who also drank “one or two” vodka tonics.

About 4:30 p.m., Masoner, Barber and Monnin met at the Los Angeles Club on Wilshire Boulevard during a reception sponsored by Allianz Underwriters Insurance Co., where Barber is a vice president.

Neither Barber nor Monnin said they saw Masoner drinking at the reception, but Barber of West Los Angeles said he had three “light scotches” there and Monnin said he drank “two to three” more vodka tonics.

Monnin told jurors that Masoner approached him at the reception and “was kind of wavering.”

As the affair came to a close about 7:30 p.m., Monnin and Barber were asked by someone to “help Jim get home,” Barber testified.

Barber said he saw Masoner sitting in a chair “somewhat leaning to one side . . . more or less staring off, blankly.”

Barber and Monnin agreed that one of them would drive Masoner home and the other would follow in Masoner’s car, they testified.

After a two-hour trip that included stops for directions and coffee, the three men arrived in a cul-de-sac near Masoner’s home, uphill from the Shaner home. Monnin got out of Masoner’s car, leaving the keys in the ignition, he said. He walked to Barber’s car, and “the gist of the conversation was to the effect that we’d gotten (Masoner) home,” Monnin said.

But as the men talked, Monnin said, Masoner climbed into his car and drove away.

Barber and Monnin discovered the accident as Barber drove down the hill in pursuit of Masoner because, Barber said, “I figured in the condition he was in, he might be in an accident.”

Masoner’s auto crashed through two rooms before coming to rest in the master bedroom.