Stafford County, Virginia, prosecutors assured a circuit court judge that the lawyer for bus driver Jing Sheng Dong will soon have access to evidence gathered in the deadly May 29 crash that killed five people and injured more than 40 on Interstate 95.
During a Tuesday hearing, defense attorney Thomas Walsh told Circuit Court Judge Charles Clark that he had not received that access from prosecutors, which would allow him to start lining up witnesses.
Walsh had asked the judge to order prosecutors to provide evidence they had gathered, as he prepares a defense for a case that was indicted 鈥渙ne business day鈥� after the crash.
The process of both parties exchanging information about evidence and witnesses before trial is known as discovery.
Stafford County Commonwealth鈥檚 Attorney Eric Olsen and Assistant Commonwealth鈥檚 Attorney Curt Baranyk told the judge, 鈥淲e will provide everything that we have in our possession,鈥� and promptly share any forensic analysis they received, in preparation for Dong鈥檚 scheduled Oct. 6 trial.
Clark set an Aug. 13 deadline for prosecutors to turn over their evidence to Dong鈥檚 attorney. On Sept. 8, the judge said he will hear arguments over the admissibility of evidence.
After the judge announced the deadlines and hearings, Olsen told the judge and defense, 鈥淲e鈥檙e not going to wait until that August date 鈥� by next Friday we鈥檒l upload what we have鈥� into a secure online system that provides access to the defense.
The judge seemed satisfied: 鈥淚t sounds like discovery won鈥檛 be an issue moving forward.鈥�
Dong, 48, who was also injured in the crash, sat in a wheelchair beside Walsh and a Chinese interpreter at the defense table.
Dong will ultimately face five counts of involuntary manslaughter, although only three have been indicted thus far. Prosecutors filed two involuntary manslaughter counts at the district court level in order to avoid having a trial begin within five months, which is the requirement in circuit court.
Dong was operating a bus owned by E&P Travel of Kings Mountain, North Carolina, traveling southbound on I-95 when, at around 2:30 a.m., his bus plowed into a line of vehicles slowing for a construction zone near Marine Base Quantico.
In a previous court hearing, Walsh said Dong was driving under the speed limit when the crash occurred and that Dong was neither under the influence of drugs nor alcohol, and was not using his cellphone.
Walsh has said he intends to file a motion for bond in the near future.
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