Trial date set for Woods

Eighteen months after a 14-year-old bicyclist was killed in a collision on his way to pick up his eighth-grade class schedule, a trial date has been set for the driver who crashed into him.

Despite an attempt by Jeffrey Woods’ defense attorney Robert Well to dismiss a grand jury indictment due to what he claimed was constitutional invalidity, Woods is scheduled to appear in court June 26, with a pretrial hearing scheduled for April 17.

“I’m glad we’re finally moving forward,” Danny’s father, Paul Oates, said. “This thing has been going on for way too long.”

Well attempted to persuade Orange County Superior Court Judge James Stotler into setting aside the indictment, essentially making the case an example of the perceived injustice of the state’s grand jury system.

Well said his client’s constitutional rights were severely limited when prosecutors took the case to a grand jury instead of to a standard preliminary hearing, comparing the grand jury proceeding to the Star Chamber, in which the British monarchy held secret trials in the past.

He contended that Deputy Dist. Atty. Susan Price left out exculpatory evidence, which would be favorable to Woods’ case, during the grand jury process — specifically, evidence that would prove Woods was having a seizure at the time of the crash, he said.

Deputy Dist. Atty. Matthew Lockhart argued that his team didn’t have to discuss the “phantom seizure” with the grand jury because there was nothing to substantiate Woods was having a seizure before the accident occurred.

“Is it possible? Sure, it’s possible. It’s possible lightning came down from heaven to cause him to do this,” Lockhart said — but likewise, there was no evidence to substantiate it.

“The grand jury would have been derelict in their duty not to deliver an indictment,” Lockhart said.

Well also gave the judge two other options: to order a post-indictment preliminary hearing — which is extremely rare, if not unheard-of — or to dismiss the case without prejudice, so the district attorney could re-file elsewhere and present the purported exculpatory evidence during a subsequent trial.

All three suggestions were denied by Stotler, who said Woods must stand trial for the Aug. 29, 2007, crash. Woods was accused of felony vehicular manslaughter with gross negligence while intoxicated and felony driving under the influence causing bodily injury following the crash — in which he ran into Oates while allegedly driving erratically and sending text messages that were potentially related to a drug deal, while under the influence of Xanax and Vicodin.

CANDICE BAKER may be reached at (714) 966-4631 or at candice.baker@latimes.com.