What Do I Need To Know Before Testifying?

Location: Wake County NC

I got subpoenaed for my cousins DUI trial, testifying against him on behalf of the state.

The story on what happened is a long one, but I’ll provide all relevant info:

My bachelor party was supposed to be an early morning fishing trip. We got to the boat dock early and went fishing until around noon. I had one drink, got extremely sea sick after catching someone’s else’s wake, and I didn’t drink a lick of anything until we got to shore. Even then, it was only water/Gatorade.

We decided to go back to my other groomsman’s house to hang out and go to a bar afterwords. While inside, the topic came up about his bikes, and we went out to the garage and played around with his bikes for a while. My best man, who was my cousin, wanted to ride one because he hasn’t in years. He’s a big guy, 6 foot 8, maybe 410. Turns out he was an alcoholic and was around 0.28 at this time. He didn’t seem drunk, didn’t slur his words, didn’t give us ANY indication that he was going to crash. And besides, it’s my day, so why should I have to watch someone who’s 12 years older than I am?

Anyway, we told him where to go. We told him to stay on the property and follow the trails and don’t go on the road. What does he do? He goes onto the road. Before he got to the road, however, we chased after him to try and stop him. We yelled and yelled, but by the time we got to the end of the driveway, he had already pulled out, went full throttle, and flipped 10 feet away. He wasn’t moving, had blood coming out of his ears, had blood all over his face, and everything in between. By this point 911 was on the phone and was giving us instructions on taking care of him when his heart stopped. His face turned purple and he stopped breathing, and after CPR we had a pulse and he had color in his face. By this time the ambulance arrived, and he was rushed off to the hospital where he spent a few days in a coma and eventually started talking and walking.

Anyway, he was charged with 9 different charges, the largest was a DUI because his blood test came back as 0.28. His family has since villainized me and my other groomsman, and it has completely destroyed my family. They don’t believe he did anything wrong and it was all our fault, that I didn’t need to give CPR and break his rib, and that we gave him the keys and told him to ride on the road. I was subpoenaed to testify against him, and I’ve never been to court and don’t know what to say/do. I know his family will try and turn it against me, but I don’t know if they can during his trial.

So what happens next? Am I going to be in the courtroom, waiting to see if the state calls me to the stand? What do I say? Can I tell the court I don’t want to testify against my cousin? What about all of the other people that were there? The 911 phone call? I know it’s not my job to prove anything, but I would like to show them that we did nothing wrong and that it was an accident on the day that was supposed to be all about me.

I greatly appreciate any advice, and I’ll answer any questions y’all have.