In a sharply worded legal motion, the Fairfax County Public Defender’s Office has accused the Commonwealth’s Attorney’s Office of misconduct Tuesday night in the case of a school bus driver charged with a DUI.
The public defender claims charter bus driver Troy Reynolds, jailed without bond since his arrest after an Oct. 27 bus crash, is being denied his right to a fair and speedy trial.
The motion also claims some evidence that prosecutors will use to support the charges against Reynolds, which include child endangerment and driving under the influence, was not turned over to defense attorneys in the time period required by law.
Zach Thrun’s daughter was one of the 44 kindergarten students from D.C.’s Murch Elementary aboard the bus when the driver crashed into a ditch coming back from a field trip to a Chantilly, Virginia, pumpkin patch.
“My thoughts are that the right to a fair and speedy trial is sacred, and if that can’t happen, then there shouldn’t be a trial. That said, children are sacred too, and if a person who puts many children in danger is not adjudicated, that is a travesty of justice,” Thrun said.
The public defender’s motion references previous, similar accusations against the office of Commonwealth’s Attorney Steve Descano and asks that the judge not postpone or continue the trial.
“In case after case, discovery violations have ground the effective administration of justice in this court to a halt. Continuing this trial while Mr. Reynolds is incarcerated is not the answer,” Senior Assistant Public Defender Amy M. Jordan wrote in the motion.
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The motion also asks the judge not to allow the Commonwealth’s attorney to withdraw the charges so they can be refiled.
