Murder Charges Appealed Driver In Fatal Accident Scheduled For Trial Tuesday
The man accused of causing a five-car wreck that killed two people at a Spokane intersection is trying to escape a pair of precedent-setting murder charges.
James Barstad, 30, of Richland, is scheduled to go to trial Tuesday.
His attorney, Assistant Public Defender Alan Rossi, wants two first-degree murder charges against Barstad dropped, which would mean Barstad would face two counts of vehicular homicide in the case.
A first-degree murder conviction could mean life in prison, while someone convicted of vehicular homicide generally spends 10 years or less behind bars.
A state Court of Appeals commissioner is scheduled to decide today if there will be a formal hearing on Rossi’s request, which would mean Barstad would face only vehicular homicide charges in the case.
If a hearing is granted, Barstad’s trial would be delayed indefinitely while the appellate court rules on the motion.
Deputy Prosecutor Larry Steinmetz opposes the request.
“Mr. Barstad, if convicted, has the right to appeal,” Steinmetz said.
Police said Barstad was drunk May 25 when he sped through a red light at Mission and Hamilton, starting the pileup that killed 26-year-old Karen Sederholm and 15-year-old Julie Allen.
Barstad, who has been behind bars since the wreck, originally was charged with two counts of vehicular homicide and one count of possession of a controlled substance. Police found methamphetamine and marijuana in his pickup truck after the crash.
Prosecuting Attorney Jim Sweetser later tacked on two first-degree murder charges, saying Barstad showed “manifest indifference to human life” when he steered his red-and-white pickup into the intersection.
The murder charges against Barstad may be the first of their kind in state history. Sweetser said he knows of no other Washington case where an alleged drunken driver was charged with murder in a fatal car wreck.
The vehicular homicide charges were not dropped. Sweetser said he wanted to give a jury the option of convicting Barstad of either firstdegree murder or vehicular homicide.
Rossi argued in a legal brief filed last month that the murder charges are inappropriate because they are too general in this case.
State law dictates that someone accused of a crime faces the most specific charges available, he said.
Superior Court Judge Thomas Merryman, who is set to preside over the trial, disagreed, siding with prosecutors in an earlier ruling.
Rossi appealed Merryman’s decision to the Court of Appeals on Tuesday.
, DataTimes