BY KRISTEN DELGUZZI
The Cincinnati Enquirer

Tracie Alfieri

Tracie Alfieri admits she was upset last November when another motorist cut her off. She agrees with witnesses who say she honked her horn and flashed her lights.

But the Mount Washington woman denies slamming on her brakes a short distance later to teach the other driver a lesson, as prosecutors have accused.

''I do not feel that I recklessly caused her to go off the road,'' Mrs. Alfieri said Wednesday, during the final portion of testimony in her trial on charges of aggravated vehicular homicide and aggravated vehicular assault.

She says she braked after she merged onto Interstate 71 because she was traveling too fast and was approaching traffic ahead of her.

As Mrs. Alfieri was braking, Rene Andrews - the driver who earlier had cut in front of Mrs. Alfieri on Red Bank Road - was merging onto I-71. She swerved and lost control of her car. She was injured and her unborn child killed when she slammed into a disabled truck on Nov. 27.

''Her reaction to my slowing down caused her to leave the road,'' Mrs. Alfieri said.

''I've stayed up late at night trying to think about what I could have done differently, .Ç.Ç. but I don't think I was driving recklessly.''

Mrs. Andrews, 29, of Madisonville, has no memory of the crash.

During her testimony, Mrs. Alfieri, a 24-year-old mother of two, had to be reminded to speak loudly enough for jurors to hear. She also broke down several times.

Assistant Hamilton County prosecutor Gerald Krumpelbeck suggested that Mrs. Alfieri was lying because her account of the accident and preceding events differed from two witnesses.

The witnesses said Mrs. Alfieri abruptly braked just as Mrs. Andrews pulled in behind her, and neither remembered any traffic ahead of Mrs. Alfieri. She said both drivers were behind her and not able to see the upcoming traffic.

Jurors, who will begin deliberations today, must decide whether Mrs. Alfieri was reckless. To make such a finding, they must conclude that she exhibited a ''heedless indifference to the consequences.''

Prosecutors will say Mrs. Alfieri was reckless. But defense attorneys will argue that part of the blame falls to Mrs. Andrews, who they say was following too closely.

The defense will ask Common Pleas Judge Patrick Dinkelacker to tell jurors that motorists have a duty to maintain an assured clear distance in which to stop, as well as a duty to control their cars. The judge will rule this morning.

If convicted, Mrs. Alfieri faces up to 6ï years in prison.

Previous stories

INJURED WOMAN RECALLS LITTLE April 30, 1997
ACCUSED'S DRIVING AT TRIAL'S CORE April 29, 1997
2 TRIALS, 2 CONTROVERSIES April 27, 1997
WOMAN PLEADS NOT GUILTY IN CRASH THAT CLAIMED FETUS Jan. 4, 1997
DRIVER INDICTED Jan. 3, 1997