Plant City man on trial in fatal motorcycle wreck

Paul David Gatta contends he wasn't at the wheel of the bright red custom motorcycle when it went of the road, hit a fence and ended up in a tree – leaving a woman dead.

The Plant City man's attorney said no one could disprove that the victim, Angela Maria Fattarusso, was driving.

But prosecutors told jurors that was doubtful because Fattarusso was blind.

The competing claims came in opening statements today as Gatta, 49, went to trial on charges of driving under the influence-manslaughter, manslaughter and DUI.

Authorities said Gatta's blood-alcohol level was 0.099 percent hours after the wreck. Florida law presumes impairment at 0.08 percent.

Testimony showed Gatta and Fattarusso met at the Finish Line Saloon, 5402 W. U.S. 92, on the night of Sept. 24, 2008.

They immediately hit it off, said bar owner Sylvia Blocker, who was Fattarusso's roommate. Despite her impaired sight, Fattarusso loved motorcycles.

"She was bitten by the bike bug," said Blocker, who had known Fattarusso for 30 years.

She said Fattarusso couldn't see farther than 2 inches because of a genetic problem that limited her peripheral vision.

"She couldn't walk straight," Blocker said. "She was always bumping into things."

The bar owner testified that she has two motorcycles and that Fattarusso, 50, enjoyed going for rides on those and other bikes.

Blocker said she told her friend not to ride on Gatta's bike, however, because it didn't have a passenger seat. She also said she warned Gatta against taking Fattarusso for a spin.

But the two went for ride after Blocker left the bar.

Investigators said the motorcycle went into a ditch, overturned, struck a chain-link fence and landed in a tree just west of Moores Lake Road.

A passer-by found a bloody Gatta clinging to a construction barrier in the middle of U.S. 92 the next morning. Fattarusso's body was on the side of the road.

Gatta's attorney, Melinda Morris, said there were no witnesses who could contradict her client's claim that he wasn't driving.

Morris also said no one knows what Gatta's blood-alcohol level was at the time of the crash.

On cross-examination, Blocker said Fattarusso never told people about her handicap.

The trial is expected to last into Thursday.

tbrennan@tampatrib.com

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