FARMINGTON – Ryan Hurd was driving his car when it crashed and burned in New Vineyard in 2007, a survivor of the fiery wreck testified Wednesday at Hurd’s manslaughter trial.

Hurd, 23, of Lincoln is on trial in Franklin County Superior Court, charged with causing the death of Terry “T.J.” Richardson Jr., 34, of Dover-Foxcroft, who died at the scene beside Route 27.

Passenger Chad Bernier of Medway, who was 30 at the time, told the court he had been drinking from the time he got out of work in Kingfield on Oct. 16, 2007, until early the next morning but didn’t remember much before or after the crash because he had a “good buzz on.”

The three men were working on the construction of the Poland Spring water bottling plant in Kingfield at the time and were driving to a Kingfield hotel the night of the crash.

Bernier said he did remember that Richardson was the driver of Hurd’s red Pontiac GT Grand Prix when they left a Farmington bar late on Oct. 16, but Hurd took over on the way back to their hotel in Kingfield in the early hours of Oct. 17, when Bernier told Richardson they were going the wrong way.

He said Hurd turned the car around, and after that the car went sideways. Bernier said the next thing he remembers was waking up under the car yelling for help.

State prosecutors say Hurd was driving when his car left Route 27, sheered off a telephone pole, overturned and burst into flames.

Richardson and Bernier were trapped in the car; Hurd was thrown into the woods. Richardson was dead at the scene from blunt force trauma to the head. Bernier had a broken neck and back and bruised lungs. Hurd had a broken collar bone and leg.

State chemist Stephen Pierce testified that Richardson’s blood-alcohol level was 0.26 percent, and Hurd’s was 0.22 percent about two hours after the crash. Bernier’s was 0.09 percent three hours after the crash.

Maine State Police Trooper Joshua Birmingham testified the car was heading south at nearly 100 mph when the accident occurred. The speedometer was stuck at 85 when police checked it at the scene, he said.

The trooper said the accident was reported at 1:18 a.m. Hurd wasn’t found until 37 minutes later. Birmingham said he asked Hurd, “What happened here?” Hurd said he didn’t remember, but when Birmingham asked him what he was driving, Hurd said a GT Grand Prix, the investigator testified.

On a tape played in court, Hurd gave different versions of who was driving and where everyone was in the car.

Birmingham said that when he asked Hurd who was driving last, Hurd said, “I do not remember.”

Birmingham said he overheard Hurd say in the ambulance, “I probably killed my friends.”

Farmington police officer Shane Cote testified Tuesday that Hurd told him, “‘They forced me to drive.'”

Under cross-examination, Birmingham said he used interview techniques to try to get the truth from Hurd and at times bluffed that he had information.

Defense lawyer Richard L. Hartley asked Birmingham if Hurd told him anything that he found later to be untrue. Birmingham said no.

The trial is expected to continue Thursday.