US parade crash driver faces life in jail on six counts of intentional homicide
The man accused of ploughing his SUV into a parade of Christmas marchers could have turned down a side street but didn’t.
Once he passed it, he never touched the brakes – barrelling
through and leaving bodies in his wake, according to a criminal complaint.
No motive has been given for Darrell Brooks Jr, the suspect
in the suburban Milwaukee crash on Sunday (Monday NZT) that killed six people
and injured more than 60 others, but it may not matter if he goes to trial.
Legal experts say the evidence strongly supports intentional homicide charges that would mean life in prison.
Former Waukesha County District Attorney Paul Bucher said it
might be difficult to prove intent with the first person Brooks struck, “but
when he kept going and knowing what he had done to the first person and didn’t
stop, then it was all intentional”.
Brooks, 39, is charged with five counts of first-degree
intentional homicide and is expected to face a sixth count after an 8-year-old
boy died on Tuesday. Waukesha County District Attorney Susan Opper has also
said additional charges are likely.
Brooks' lawyers, Jeremy Perri and Anna Kees, cautioned
people not to judge the case before all facts were known.
“It’s essential that we not rush to judgment, and instead
treat these proceedings and all those involved with dignity and respect,” their
statement read.
“That includes Mr Brooks, who is entitled to a vigorous
defence and careful protection of his constitutional rights.
“No matter how serious and emotional the charges, until the
government proves its allegations beyond a reasonable doubt, our client is
presumed innocent.”
Opper said on Wednesday her office would not comment on a
pending case.
Brooks is accused of refusing to stop even as an officer
banged on the hood of his SUV. Another officer fired three shots into the
vehicle, but it did not stop.
Five people ranging in age from 52 to 81 were pronounced
dead within hours. One of many injured children, Jackson Sparks, 8, died on
Tuesday. Representatives for area hospitals said on Wednesday that at least 16
people were being treated for injuries.
Brooks hasn't spoken publicly and it's not known what, if
anything, he told investigators.
But even if Brooks was under the influence of drugs or
alcohol at the time – and police have not said he was – that could not be used
as a defence in Wisconsin, experts said.
Tom Grieve, a Brookfield defence lawyer and former Waukesha
County prosecutor, said one possible defence would be that Brooks was suffering
from a mental disease or defect.
A jury would have to decide if he was guilty of the charges
and then whether he was mentally ill. Such a finding would likely land him in a
mental institution rather than prison.
Opper could have charged Brooks with first-degree reckless
homicide, which would have been a “slam dunk” conviction that, given Brooks'
age, would have been an effective life sentence, Bucher said.
But extensive video and other evidence also support the more
serious charge, he and other experts said.
“The fact he didn’t step on the brakes: that was
intentional. The fact that his foot was on the gas: that was intentional. He
could have stopped … He’s the only person who could put his foot on the brake
pedal and he didn’t,” Grieve said.
A criminal complaint detailing the charges includes
statements from police officers and witnesses who said the vehicle “appeared to
be intentionally moving side to side”, with no attempt to slow down or stop as
it struck multiple people and sent bodies and objects flying.
One officer who tried to stop the vehicle said Brooks was
looking directly at him, and it appeared he had no emotion on his face, the
complaint said.
Prosecutors would not be allowed to put police or bystanders
on the stand to speculate on what Brooks intended to do or his state of mind,
experts said.
Bucher said prosecutors also would not be able to introduce
social media posts made by Brooks, an aspiring rapper, or lyrics from his songs
suggesting an interest in violence – which became the subject of widespread
speculation on social media that Brooks' actions were intentional.
Brooks included links on social media to his songs, several
of which seemingly celebrate violence and call police “pigs”.
In a biography on his SoundCloud account, he refers to
growing up in the “dangerous west side neighborhood of Washington Park” in
Milwaukee, his “multiple legal battles” and his desire to turn the “life he
lived on the streets” into music.
Brooks, who has been charged with crimes more than a dozen
times since 1999, had two outstanding cases against him at the time of the
parade disaster, including one earlier in November in which he’s accused of
intentionally striking a woman with his car in Milwaukee County.
He had been freed on US$1000 bail for that case, which
prosecutors now say was inappropriately low.
And on Sunday, Brooks was leaving the scene of a domestic
dispute that had taken place just minutes before he drove into the parade
route, Waukesha Police Chief Dan Thompson said.
Several experts predicted a plea deal.
“If I were in this case, what I’d be trying to do was to see
how I can put out this fire as quickly as possible,” said Phil Turner, a former
federal prosecutor who now works in private practice in Chicago.
“If you let it linger, it’s only going to get worse.”
Source Stuff
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