Charges for wreck challenged

• By RICHARD BURGESS
• Advocate Acadiana bureau
• Published: Mar 4, 2008 - Page: 1BA

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LAFAYETTE — A man charged in a traffic accident that killed four people wants his charges dismissed, arguing that a “firestorm of publicity” unduly influenced the grand jury that indicted him and could make a fair trial impossible.

Brian A. Verret, 23, of Lafayette, is set for trial this month on four counts of negligent homicide in the September 2006 accident on Ambassador Caffery Parkway.

The crash attracted much attention from local media after police alleged that Verret might have been involved in a street race when he crossed the center line and crashed into an oncoming car.

Prosecutors have since said the evidence is inconclusive as to whether Verret was racing, but speeding is still alleged to have been a factor in the crash.

The accident prompted anti-racing billboards and a resolution in the Legislature last year calling for a public safety campaign against street racing and tougher penalties.

In a court motion asking a judge to dismiss the charges against Verret, defense attorney Gerald Block cites what he calls a “firestorm of publicity” surrounding the street racing allegations, with extensive coverage in newspapers, on television news programs and on local radio talk shows.

And Block alleges that police and other government officials are partly to blame for the publicity because they blamed the accident on street racing.

The attorney also cites anti-racing billboards in Lafayette that featured pictures of the crash victims: James Thibodeaux, 26, of Carencro; his wife, Danielle Thibodeaux, 23; Jeremy Meche, 27, also of Carencro; and Sunshine Jasek, 28, of Port Sulphur.

“These advertising billboards … had the effect of continuing to keep this accident in the public eye by saturating the market and perpetuating the false labeling of the accident a ‘drag racing/street racing’ accident caused by Brian Verret,” Block wrote in court filings.

Block contends the adverse publicity “has effectively negated Mr. Verret’s presumption of innocence and essentially deprived Mr. Verret of an impartial trial in this parish.”

The request to dismiss the charges because of publicity is unusual.

The possible adverse effects of pre-trial media coverage are more generally addressed in a request to move a person’s trial to a different parish.

Block and prosecutor J.N. Prather declined comment on the issue, which is set for a hearing on Thursday.