fair trial? yea sure! this ladys trial is taking place without her. Original Article Trial of Kuwaiti student is under way without her Woman fled Valley in face of fatal DUI case Michael Kiefer The Arizona Republic Apr. 14, 2006 12:00 AM MESA - Muneerah Al-Tarrah left the country rather than stand trial for fleeing an accident that killed a Mesa man last September. But opening arguments at her trial began without her in Maricopa County Superior Court on Thursday. Deputy Maricopa County Attorney Jennifer Green described how Al-Tarrah's Jeep Cherokee plowed into Todd DeGain, 35, who was riding a motorized skateboard. How their faces came within inches of each other when DeGain was propelled head-first through Al-Tarrah's windshield, and how Al-Tarrah never hit the brakes then or before hitting a stoplight pole moments later. Defense attorney Todd Nolan planted seeds of reasonable doubt and asked jurors to come back with a not-guilty verdict. It's a case of leaving the scene of a fatal accident. A case of DUI. And a case of deja vu. Many of the same witnesses who testified last month in the trial of Al-Tarrah's friend and co-defendant, Reem Bishara,will take the stand again. Bishara, whose trial ended in a deadlocked jury on March 30, is expected to testify Monday, although she will enter into agreement with prosecutors that any variations in her story cannot be used against her when she is retried. Both women were charged with leaving the scene of a fatal accident. Al-Tarrah, 22, was also charged with DUI. Bishara, 20, was convicted of underage drinking and driving. The two women, both Kuwaitis and students at Arizona State University, were driving in separate vehicles along Alma School Road in Mesa in the early-morning hours of Sept. 14 after a night of drinking in Tempe and Scottsdale bars, when DeGain darted in front of Al-Tarrah's car and was killed instantly. Bishara, who was driving behind Al-Tarrah, ran over parts of DeGain's motorized skateboard; her car was sprayed with DeGain's blood. But Bishara testified she never saw DeGain and didn't know Al-Tarrah had struck a person. After two weeks of trial, the jury deadlocked 7-to-1 in favor of conviction. No date has been set for her retrial. But the news coverage of Bishara's trial made it difficult for lawyers to seat an impartial jury for Al-Tarrah's case. Nolan,an associate of Al-Tarrah's original lawyer David Michael Cantor,took over the case after Cantor was charged with contempt of court for refusing to confiscate Al-Tarrah's passport as ordered by a judge and thus enabling her to flee the country. Cantor will be tried on that charge May 15. The prosecution will not be allowed to tell the jury why Al-Tarrah is not in the courtroom; the defense will not be allowed to say that DeGain was high on methamphetamine when the accident occurred. In his opening arguments, Nolan hinted that a witness described a red SUV at the scene of the accident; Al-Tarrah's Jeep was silver. He noted that both Al-Tarrah and Bishara told police only that Al-Tarrah hit a pole. And he pointed out that though Al-Tarrah was covered in blood that was originally presumed to be DeGain's, the only blood investigators tested on Al-Tarrah's clothes and body turned out to be her own. If convicted, Al-Tarrah could be sentenced to 1 1/2 to 3 3/4 years in prison, although the crime is usually punished by a sentence of probation, with or without jail time. And although Al-Tarrah can be tried in absentia, she cannot be sentenced in absentia. County Attorney Andrew Thomas has said repeatedly that he will seek her extradition from Kuwait. DeGain's father, Glenn DeGain, who has been present at every court event regarding his son's death, was absent from the opening of the trial because of health reasons. "I do want to be there, and I hope I will be there Monday," he told The Republic by telephone. Reach the reporter at michael.kiefer@arizonarepublic.com or (602) 444-8994.