A 31-year-old Amherstburg man is now on trial, accused of impaired driving causing death.

A Michigan mom was killed when two vehicles collided at Walker Road and South Talbot Road. The pickup truck and SUV crashed on Dec. 31, 2011.

Within a few hours, Cole Rickett of Amherstburg was charged with 10 offences.

The Dutta family, from Ann Arbor,  Mich., were in the SUV. All five members were taken to hospital, but the crash claimed the life of 44-year-old Carolyn Dutta.

On the first day of the trial, Constable Mchael Whitelaw took the stand. He was the first police officer to talk to Rickett at the scene.

Whitelaw testified Rickett was "swaying side to side and he seemed unsteady on his feet.”

When asked if he had been drinking, Whitelaw says Rickett told him he had four pints during lunch. When asked when he stopped drinking, Whitelaw testified that Rickett responded "probably 15 minutes ago, I'm (expletive) aren't I? They pulled out in front of me, I couldn't do anything.”

Rickett was first taken to the Essex OPP detachment and then to the ER for a broken wrist.

It was at hospital Rickett was given a sobriety test, which Whitelaw says he failed. Within hours of this crash, Rickett was charged with impaired driving causing death and bodily harm.

In cross examination though, defence lawyer Pat Ducharme disputes that Rickett was unsteady on his feet, saying he had no trouble reaching into his vehicle and glove box to pull out his licence and insurance information.

Whitelaw agreed that Rickett was not slurring his words at the scene. Ducharme asked Whitelaw for video from inside the cells of headquarters, but the officer admitted he either made a mistake when turning the video on or the machine wasn't working properly.

Ducharme expressed frustration with this saying there is no video evidence to show Rickett's alleged impaired behaviour on the day of the crash.

No one from the Dutta family was in court Monday, but Suman Dutta, Carolyn’s husband and the driver of their vehicle, is expected to testify on Tuesday.

Ducharme says they will be making the argument that Dutta failed to stop at Walker Road and that if he had, Dutta would have seen Rickett's pickup truck before entering the intersection.

Facts Dutta has vehemently denied throughout the investigation and court hearings.