Two people who were injured in a one-vehicle rollover crash in April 2019 in Franklin Township identified the driver Wednesday in Butler County Common Pleas Court.

Michael Joseph Hilliard, 41, of Butler, who was named as the driver, is facing a jury trial on charges of aggravated assault by vehicle while driving under the influence, theft by unlawful taking, DUI and DUI with a blood alcohol content of 0.16% or higher, driving with a license suspended for DUI-related reasons and four summary traffic violations.

State police filed the charges following the crash on Old Route 422 that occurred at 3 a.m. after all three people left the second bar they visited beginning the night of April 12, according to testimony.

One of the passengers, Betty Jo McCandless-Meadows said the crash left her with severe and permanent injuries.

She testified with a stutter that she said is a result of a head injury she suffered in the crash. She said she didn’t stutter before the incident. She said she suffered brain swelling, two cranial fractures, 12 broken ribs, 10 broken vertebrae, a broken pelvis, broken knee and punctures to her heart, lung, stomach, spleen, liver, kidneys and intestines.

An oxygen system she is using to help her breathe is necessary until she can receive a lung transplant, she said. Mesh and clips were implanted to hold her heart in one piece. She said she can no longer read aloud, but she can read to herself. She said her knee and pelvis will have to be replaced. She spent three months in a Pittsburgh hospital followed by six months in a long-term care facility.

Through his attorney, William Bercik of Pittsburgh, Hilliard waived his right to a jury trial for the charge of driving with a license suspended for DUI-related reasons. The waiver allows Judge Kelley Streib, who is presiding over the case, to decide if Hilliard is guilty or not guilty of that charge.

In his opening statement, Bercik said Hilliard wasn’t driving the vehicle. He said he isn’t going to try to prove who was driving.

McCandless-Meadows and Kenneth Kline, who was dating McCandless-Meadows at the time, testified that Hilliard insisted on driving when the trio left the Rock Ann Haven bar in Butler Township. They were drinking at the Longhorn Corral in Franklin Township before they went to Rock Ann Haven, according to testimony.

Trooper Matthew Kephart testified that he responded to the crash and found McCandless-Meadows and Hilliard on the ground outside of the vehicle and found Kline walking around the site. Kephart said the vehicle hit a ditch and rolled over.

He said he asked Hilliard about the cause of the crash, and he responded that he had too much to drink and but never indicated that he wasn’t driving.

He said a hospital report revealed that Hilliard’s blood alcohol content was .161%.

A person with a blood alcohol level of .08% is considered drunk under state law.

McCandless-Meadows testified that she picked up Kline in her car after she left work. The vehicle was loaded with camping and fishing gear. The plan was for them to go to her home and then wake up early the next morning, which was the opening day of the trout fishing season, to go to the Zelienople Sportsmen’s Club to camp and fish, she said.

But they decided to go to the Longhorn Corral, where they encountered Hilliard, who is Kline’s cousin through marriage. She said they arrived at the bar around 8 p.m. or 8:30 p.m. She said she drank one beer and Kline drank two, but Hilliard didn’t have a drink.

They decided to go to Rock Ann Haven, and she said she thought Hilliard was going to drive himself and she and Kline would drive together. However, it was decided that she and Kline would follow Hilliard to his nearby home, and all three would go in Hilliard’s vehicle with her driving.

After leaving her car at Hilliard’s home and driving to Rock Ann Haven, McCandless-Meadows said she asked Hilliard for the keys to his vehicle, but he refused to hand them over and said she could drive back if he wasn’t able to, she said.

They ended up staying until the bar closed. Kline was drinking beer, and Hilliard drank “beer after beer after beer,” she said.

As they walked toward the Chevrolet Trailblazer that Hilliard was driving, she said she asked him for the keys, but he said nothing. Kline and Hilliard argued about the keys, but Hilliard eventually got behind the wheel, she said. She sat in the front passenger seat, and Kline was in the back seat, she said.

“He stomped on the gas,” she said about Hilliard. The rear end of the vehicle swung out and rocks flew out from under the tires when he pulled out of the parking lot, she said.

After reaching for her seat belt, the next thing she said she remembered was waking up in a hospital about a week later. She said she doesn’t remember being ejected from the vehicle.

Kline testified that he accepted Hilliard’s invitation to have a shot of liquor with him in the Longhorn Corral, but the staff then refused to serve Hilliard any more drinks.

He said McCandless-Meadows was supposed to drive from Hilliard’s home to Rock Ann Haven, but Hilliard did the driving. He said staff at that bar also eventually stopped serving Hilliard.

As they were leaving, he said he told Hilliard that McCandless-Meadows should drive and they argued about it, but Hilliard insisted on driving.

“He was pretty well tuned-up. Drunk,” he said, responding to questions from assistant District Attorney Mark Lope.

With Hilliard driving, Kline said they came around a bend and he was suddenly hit in the face with pine tree branches as the car went airborne.

He said all three people were flown to hospitals in Pittsburgh after the crash. He said staples were placed in the back of his head.

Testimony resumes Thursday.