WIDOW TELLS OF LIFE AFTER FATAL CRASH

Truck Driver'S Trial In Punishment Phase

The woman who survived a freeway crash that killed her husband and
three young children said Monday she rarely smiles anymore.

"Sometimes I smile because people are so nice to me, and I know they
need to see me smile and they're scared I'm not going to make it
through this," Lisa Groten told jurors in the punishment phase of Jose
Coronado Martinez's trial.

Jurors took an hour Friday to convict Martinez, 35, and now must
decide if he gets probation or up to 20 years in prison for each of
the four counts of intoxication manslaughter.

Martinez was driving an 18-wheeler that keeled over June 29 on a local
freeway ramp and crushed a Ford Expedition carrying Kurt Groten, 38,
his wife, Lisa, 36, and their children, David, 6, Madeleine, 4, and
Adam, 11 months.

Groten testified earlier in the trial, to describe the crash. But on
Monday, the composed widow told jurors and those in the packed
courtroom about her lost family, their life before the crash and how
she feels now.

When prosecutor Warren Diepraam asked Groten the last time was she was
happy, she replied that it was right before the crash, when her family
was in the Expedition together, headed home.

She had picked up her husband at the airport that night, and the
family was on the Gulf Freeway headed toward their West University
Place home when the crash occurred.

Witnesses said Martinez was driving at high speed when he suddenly
came up close behind the Grotens' car and veered left. The sharp
movement caused his load of office supplies to shift, tipping the
truck over onto the Grotens' Expedition.

The wreckage burst into flames soon after Groten got out. The children
were crushed by the impact and died quickly. Her husband was alive as
fire consumed the wreck. He died of carbon monoxide poisoning.

Martinez's blood-alcohol level tested at 0.11 and 0.12 about 90
minutes after the crash. At the time, the legal standard for
drunkenness was 0.10. That's the standard being used in this case.

Groten identified charred items from the wreck for jurors Monday,
including a stroller, children's books and tapes and toys.

She also told jurors why she fell in love with Kurt Groten in 1985
while she was attending the Baylor University School of Law.

"Because he had the kindest eyes I've ever seen, and he was a very
good person," Groten told jurors.

Married in October 1987, Groten said she and Kurt had three bright,
loving kids with strong spirits and sweet personalities. She told
jurors the only problem they ever had with their oldest son, David,
was when he would sneak out of class to go check on his little sister
in another class.

Groten painted a picture for jurors of an ideal family living in a
suburban setting -- well-behaved and loving children, financial
security, lots of activities for the kids, a father building a bond
with his children and a mother who left her career behind to tend to
their upbringing.

"I was a good lawyer but I was a much better mom and I felt like my
children needed me and we were so blessed to have the opportunity for
me to stay home," she testified. "I didn't want to miss a minute of
being with them."

But on cross-examination, defense attorney Jon A. Jaworski asked
Groten about her religious beliefs and whether she wanted revenge.

"Do you want a pound of flesh?" Jaworski asked Groten.

State District Judge Ted Poe would not let her answer.

Jaworski called Martinez's mother, brother, wife, 9-year-old daughter
and others to portray his client as sober, religious, generous, kind,
loving to his family and friends and sorry for what happened to the
Grotens.

Maximo Martinez, the defendant's brother, testified that he and his
brother fled their native El Salvador because of civil unrest in that
country.

Many of the defense's witnesses, including Blanca Martinez, the
defendant's wife, told jurors they didn't accept the verdict because
they still think the crash was accidental and that Martinez was not
intoxicated.

Closing arguments will start at 10 a.m. today in Poe's court. Martinez
can get up to 20 years for each of the four charges, and Poe can order
that any prison time run consecutively.