Jury finds Yuma truck driver guilty of negligent homicide in DPS officer's 2013 death

A truck driver will not be convicted of murder in the Yuma death of an Arizona Department of Public Safety officer.

Jurors in Yuma County convicted 36-year-old Jorge Espinoza on Friday of negligent homicide, rather than second-degree murder, in the May 2013 accident.

Espinoza was also found guilty of six counts each of endangerment and criminal damage.

The jury had been deliberating since Tuesday.

Officer Tim Huffman was writing a report at an accident scene on Interstate 8 when his patrol vehicle was struck in a multi-vehicle collision involving a tractor-trailer rig driven by Espinoza.

Prosecutors argued that Espinoza was distracted by looking at his cellphone.

Espinoza's defense said he was blinded by the sun and that DPS did not place adequate signage at the accident scene.