Witness describes deadly motorist standoff

For a moment, Kiera Falcone said, she thought the two men driving side-by-side in front of her in Long Beach might have been friends.

But the 27-year-old real estate agent's impression on that day in May 2009 quickly changed, she testified Tuesday in the manslaughter trial of Queens College student Evan Potts of Oceanside. The driver of the yellow Porsche, Ian Sharinn, 34, began to swerve toward the Nissan Altima, driven by Potts. Potts lobbed something at the Porsche, Falcone said. Within minutes, the two men had come to a deadly standoff -- the parked Porsche blocking the Altima from passing, Sharinn standing by the front wheel of the Altima, his arms raised. Then, Potts accelerated, Falcone testified in Nassau County Court in Mineola.

"I just noticed this man getting completely bent backwards and sucked under the car," Falcone said as Sharinn's brother and sister grimaced in the courtroom. "I didn't know if he was dead or alive."

Sharinn died a short time later. Potts, 24, faces a maximum of 5 to 15 years in prison if convicted.

Falcone is one of several witnesses expected to testify about the encounter between Potts and Sharinn at the busy intersection of Park Avenue and National Boulevard.

Falcone testified that two investigators hired by Potts' lawyer had visited her home, asked her questions about the case and tried to intimidate her before the trial. Potts' lawyer, Stanley Kopilow, of Garden City, vehemently denied that his investigators had acted inappropriately, and asked to play an audiotape of his investigators' visit to Falcone's home. Court of Claims Judge Philip Grella did not allow Kopilow to play the tape, saying it was not relevant to the case.

A second witness Tuesday, John Messina, who worked at an AT&T store on National Boulevard at the time, said he also saw the final confrontation between Potts and Sharinn.

"He [Sharinn] came around the back of the Porsche and immediately started screaming and yelling aggressively," Messina said. "I felt like he wanted to fight."

Messina testified that he then saw Potts "flailing," inside the Altima, try to back up, and then realize he was boxed in by a car behind him. Prosecutors have said regardless of how scared Potts was of the 6-foot, 5-inch, 250-pound Sharinn, he did not have the right to run him down.

When Potts' wheel hit Sharinn, Messina said, his head slammed into the pavement and the Nissan drove over him.