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Elizabeth DeSeelhorst watches jurors in Judge Royal Hansen's 3rd District Court Dec 20, 2005 in West Jordan. She is fighting a misdemeanor count of allegedly killing a young woman bicyclist in Big Cottonwood Canyon.

WEST JORDAN - Elizabeth DeSeelhorst testified Wednesday that her first recollection of a fatal crash last year in Big Cottonwood Canyon was the sound of bicyclist Josie Johnson's body smashing into her car.

"I remember the noise of the biker hitting my windshield," said DeSeelhorst. "I had not seen the biker before that."

A medical expert for the defense testified the crash likely occurred while the 67-year-old woman was suffering a mini-stroke or a seizure.

John Foley, the chief of neurology at LDS Hospital, testified DeSeelhorst's flawed memory - combined with her history of strokes and a recent brain scan - shows she "suffered a brief but critical lapse in consciousness."

Foley said DeSeelhorst's actions during and after the crash were of "someone who was not really with it at the time . . . somebody who was not really there."

Closing arguments in the negligent homicide trial are scheduled for this morning in 3rd District Court, after which the case would go to the jury.

The case has been a rallying point for cyclists, who claim drivers need to be more considerate and attentive to bicycle riders.

Foley showed jurors pictures of a November 2005 brain scan that indicates DeSeelhorst has suffered numerous recurrent mini-strokes since 1991, when she suffered a major stroke that left her weak on the left side of her body.

He said the strokes may be caused by blood clots formed on an artificial heart valve implanted in DeSeelhorst in the mid-1980s.

DeSeelhorst takes blood-thinning medication, as well as an anti-seizure drug, but they do not guarantee an absence of clots or seizures, Foley testified.

On cross-examination by prosecutor Chris Bown, Foley acknowledged that DeSeelhorst's recent strokes cannot be dated or tied to the fatal crash on Sept. 18, 2004.

But Foley insisted DeSeelhorst was "at very high risk" for stroke or seizure at the time.

Furthermore, he said, DeSeelhorst's failure to see the 25-year-old bicyclist or react to the collision by braking or swerving is consistent with a brain seizure.

Someone suffering a seizure is "not recording time or memory," Foley said. "There is a hole in their short-term memory system."

As DeSeelhorst had said during her testimony: "I don't remember when I stopped remembering. I can't pinpoint the exact spot on the road."

Foley added that such strokes can come without warning, and may last for seconds or minutes. Afterward, a stroke victim may be "groggy" for minutes or hours.

He said DeSeelhorst's subsequent disorientation could account for her willingness to fabricate information written on a police accident report.

DeSeelhorst testified she and her husband worked on the report together after he arrived at the accident scene.

They wrote that Elizabeth DeSeelhorst had spotted the cyclist at a distance of 150 feet. She claimed she had moved into the inside of the two uphill traffic lanes to avoid Johnson, but Johnson suddenly swerved directly into her path.

But on Wednesday, DeSeelhorst admitted that scenario was false, and said it reflected her attempt to "figure out what possibly could have happened."

Gary DeSeelhorst testified he told his wife what to write down based on the few things she could recall.

"She was in no condition to fill out [the report]," he testified. "I was giving it my best guess. I was not trying to lie or fib."

Traffic investigators testified Johnson was riding up the canyon, just left of the right-hand fog line, when she was struck from behind by DeSeelhorst's Jeep Cherokee.

Gouge marks in the asphalt show the Jeep was straddling the fog line, with its right wheels in the gravel when the vehicle struck the bike.

Elizabeth DeSeelhorst, who has an otherwise clean driving record, said she no longer drives and relinquished her driver license.

The prosecution presented cell phone records from the day of the crash showing DeSeelhorst called her husband at 4:07 p.m. Gary DeSeelhorst testified that he, in turn, called 911 before going to his wife's side.

If convicted, Elizabeth DeSeelhorst faces up to one year in jail.