By Ibrahim Baig
On the morning of Monday April 28, 2013, the Honorable Judge Gaard heard motions for the upcoming trial of Ryan Baird.
Among Mr. Baird’s serious charges are murder and gross vehicular manslaughter.
Judge Gaard heard from the defense first. Attorney Richard Dudek, representing Baird, was granted his motion for bifurcation; the jury will not decide if Baird’s prior convictions are true, at least in the first part of the trial.
There was also a request for the People to exclude photographs, but no motion was filed. Instead, Judge Gaard asked the People to consider entering evidence without entering the photographs.
Deputy District Attorney Amanda Zambor, representing the People, had a motion to prevent the defense from arguing that others contributed to the negligence.
Before further discussing this motion, Judge Gaard asked Ms. Zambor to inform the court what this motion regarded. Ms. Zambor stated the defendant was driving under the influence after leaving a friend’s birthday party. There were three other passengers with the defendant, also intoxicated.
When the defendant locked his brakes at 89 mph, he swerved and the car rolled over a few times. The other passengers were gravely harmed. In addition. the other passengers were not wearing seatbelts.
The court discussed this motion at length. Mr. Dudek said he would not argue contributory negligence. However, he found it hard to believe the fact the other passengers were not wearing seat belts would not surface in court.
Judge Gaard concluded the fact the passengers were not wearing seat belts can be discussed in court, but allowed both lawyers the opportunity to challenge the matter later.
More of the People’s motions were also granted. Statements from the defendant will be excluded unless he testifies. These statements refer to when the defendant made several jail calls to his father. The People felt these statements are not relevant. The court, however, will allow these statements under a hearsay exception.
Before the incident in question, the defendant was involved in a previous accident in which he was hospitalized. The court will allow the People to discuss this accident in detail, as well as prior convictions. However, the People cannot discuss prior convictions in detail.
The court moved onto jury selection and trial will resume tomorrow. The People estimate the trial to last 13 days.
