Preliminary hearing examines Warren police officer's speed in fatal crash
Day 2 of the preliminary hearing for former Warren Police Officer James Burke continued on Wednesday.
Burke is charged with two counts of homicide manslaughter with motor vehicle. for the Sept. 30 crash that killed Cedric Hayden Jr and Dejuan Pettis.
Wednesday's hearing included witness testimony from a sheriff's deputy about the speed that Burke's cruiser was traveling before it collided with the white Dodge Durango occupied by Hayden Jr. and Pettis.
Deputy Joseph Bosek was on the stand for more than an hour. The prosecution and defense were going back and forth over the seconds and distance captured by the event data recorded in the police cruiser.
The defense did bring up the fact that Hayden Jr., who was the driver, had a blood alcohol level twice the legal limit, and he did not have a valid driver's license.
Another witness, Detective Sergeant Jacob Howellat the Macomb County Sheriff's Office, was called to testify. It was during his testimony that the video of the crash was reviewed.
Family and friends of Hayden Jr. and Pettis became visibly upset as the moment of impact was depicted on screen.
James Harrington, the attorney for the families, says it's important to remember that the officers were searching for someone who matched a description and no active call.
"This wasn't an act of kidnapping, abduction, or somebody being held at night for gunpoint. It was literally nothing, and here they are endangering, I mean, this is in the morning, at 5 a.m., somebody could have been out jogging, a dog could have been out being walked by a family member. This could have been literally anybody. But the choice to make this decision, and traveling this rate of speed at NASCAR speeds, is absolutely reckless as careless, and really, that's why we're here in criminal court right now," Harrington said.
The defense then called in an expert on accident reconstructions. The expert provided various scenarios and recreations of the crash and is going to be allowed as a witness for the defense. He did acknowledge that both the improper turn by the driver of the Durango and the speed of Burke's cruiser caused the crash.
The defense has two more witnesses it wants to call, and they need time to prepare. To allow preparation, Day 3 of the preliminary hearing case will be on July 30.
