The incident that led to the trial occurred at about 11:30 p.m. on a Friday in November 2014. Douglas Matthews — then a state corrections officer — was driving home from a meeting at the Prince Hall Masonic Lodge and crashed into two unoccupied parked cars with such force that one of the wheels on his car detached, court records show. Matthews testified he fell asleep at the wheel after working long shifts at two jobs. He had trouble using the brakes, he testified, and continued to drive the remaining few blocks to his home.