HAVERHILL, Mass. — Aaron Deveau sat quietly Wednesday as he watched a videotaped interview he gave to police on the day prosecutors say he was texting when he hit another car head-on.

During the interview, Deveau, then 17, handed his phone over to Haverhill police, giving officers their first look at some of the text messages that are now key to the prosecution's case against the teen, whi is accused of causing a crash that led to the death of Donald Bowley Jr., 55, of Danville, N.H.

The 17-minute interview was played for jurors on the second day of Deveau's trial in Haverhill District Court on charges he was texting at the time of the accident on Feb. 20, 2011.

Deveau, now 18, of Haverhill, is the first person to face trial under a Massachusetts law passed in 2010 making it illegal to text while driving.

In the police interview, Deveau denied he was texting at the time of the accident but admitted that he was somehow distracted.

Deveau told police that he had just finished work at the Hannah Duston Healthcare Center and had stopped by Market Basket at the Westgate Plaza to check his work schedule there, as he works two jobs.

He said he had sent his last text message at 2:33 p.m. from the plaza and then left. Moments later, he was on River Street when he claimed he tried to swerve to avoid rear-ending a woman driving in front of him, later identified as Robin Murphy.

Deveau told police that he “looked away for one quick second” and then claims Murphy applied her brakes.

“I think I seen the lady's brake lights,” he said. “Either she was slowing down or I was going too fast. Either way, I wasn't paying attention and when I hit my brakes it was a little too late and I tried going into the other lane,” he said. At that point, he said he hit Bowley's car “head-on.”

Deveau's description of the events leading up to the crash conflicted with the testimony given by Murphy, who said Tuesday that she never hit her brakes, that Deveau wasn't tailgating her, and that she didn't even notice him behind her until after she heard the crash and stopped.

Later in the interview, Deveau told police, “I think I was tired and I got distracted.”

When he was asked about texting, Deveau said his last text was sent at 2:33 p.m. — about three minutes before the accident.

Verizon phone records introduced as evidence show a series of text messages sent and received by Deveau in the moments before the accident, according to testimony from Haverhill police Officer Wayne Tracy.

While examining the phone records on the stand, Tracy confirmed that a text message was sent by Deveau at 2:33 p.m. and others were received on his phone at 2:33 p.m., 2:34 p.m., and 2:35 p.m. Assistant District Attorney Ashlee Logan has said the crash is believed to have occurred between 2:35 p.m. and 2:36 p.m.

Tracy also confirmed that four 911 calls were made after the accident. The first call came in at 2:36:41 p.m., followed by another at 2:36:54 p.m., a third at 2:37:28 p.m. and a fourth at 2:38 p.m.

Defense lawyer Joseph Lussier raised questions about whether Deveau had actually seen the other received messages before the accident and whether they could have been sent while he was still at the Westgate Plaza.

During cross examination, Tracy said it's possible to travel from the plaza to the accident scene in about a minute, depending on traffic.

“Is it possible that Mr. Deveau was sitting in Westgate Plaza when all of those text messages came in?” “In my opinion, no,” Tracy said.

Jurors were expected to view the crash scene Wednesday afternoon. Testimony will resume Monday and the case could be sent to the jury as early as Tuesday.