Chris Soules could go to trial before May

Chris Soules' trial will be delayed, according to court documents filed Monday.

Soules’ lawyers lost their bid last week to have the case against him thrown out of court, clearing the way for the former "Bachelor" star to stand trial for his role in a fatal car crash in rural northeast Iowa.

Both prosecutors and defense attorneys agreed during a pre-trial conference call last week to move the trial, which was supposed to start Jan. 18. The continuance will allow lawyers to complete the discovery process and to address pre-trial issues.

The trial will begin "prior to May 7," documents said.

Bid to dismiss denied

Judge Andrea Dryer on Friday dismissed Soules' arguments that the laws he is accused of violating are unconstitutionally vague or infringed on his constitutional rights.

Soules, who gained fame on reality TV shows such as "The Bachelorette” and “Dancing With the Stars,” was charged with leaving the scene of a fatal car crash, a class D felony, for his role in the April accident that resulted in the death of Aurora farmer Kenny Mosher.

Mosher, 66, was driving his tractor along a rural road just outside of Aurora’s town limits at 8:24 p.m. April 24 when Soules’ truck struck him from behind, authorities said. Mosher's tractor rolled and ended in a ditch near the pavement.

After performing CPR on site, emergency personnel took Mosher by ambulance to Mercy Hospital in Oelwein, where he was pronounced dead.

If convicted, Soules, who has pleaded not guilty, could be sentenced to as long as five years in prison.

Buchanan County Attorney Shawn Harden declined to comment Friday.

Soules’ defense attorneys released a statement late Friday saying they "vigorously disagree with the judge’s ruling" and plan to appeal to the Iowa Supreme Court.

Attorney Brandon Brown noted in the statement that the court has "never considered whether such actions can rightfully be punished as a 'hit and run.'"

"In response to the ruling, Mr. Soules’ attorneys again emphasized that Mr. Soules indisputably called 911, identified himself, explained his role in this tragic accident, and tried to save Mr. Mosher," the statement read.

Law’s demands not seizure, self-incrimination

Soules is charged with violating an Iowa law requiring a driver involved in a fatal crash to remain "at the scene of the accident except to seek necessary aid or to report the accident to law enforcement authorities."

If the driver leaves the scene, Section 321.263 of Iowa law states that he or she shall “immediately return to the scene of the accident or inform the law enforcement authorities where the surviving driver can be located."

Soules did neither, prosecutors Harden and Iowa Assistant Attorney General Scott Brown contended in court filings and during a November hearing.

MORE: Remembering Kenny Mosher: 'He was what all good Christian farmers should be'

Soules’ attorneys — Alfredo Parrish, Robert Montgomery, Brandon Brown and Gina Messamer of Parrish Kruidenier Law Firm in Des Moines — maintain that Iowa is the only state in the nation with this additional obligation to remain at the scene or report their whereabouts after drivers have identified themselves and ensured emergency personnel are tending to any injured victims.

Central to the defense's argument is that Soules' actions immediately after the crash — including stopping his vehicle, contacting law enforcement, providing medical treatment on scene and ensuring medical personnel arrived — satisfied the intent of Iowa's law.

“Chris Soules did the morally responsible thing here,” Montgomery said during the November hearing. “Chris Soules did the legally responsible and legally required thing here. After this accident, Chris Soules did everything he could for the victim of this accident, Mr. Mosher.”

Iowa’s requirement making him stay, the defense has argued, is unconstitutional and infringes on Soules' right to be free of unreasonable seizures, which is protected by the Fourth Amendment, and his right against self-incrimination, protected by the Fifth Amendment.

Dryer disagreed on both accounts, writing that the law's demands do not compel unreasonable seizures or force a driver such as Soules to incriminate himself.

“The fact that a seizure occurs only when an officer, by means of physical force or show of authority, has in some way restrained the liberty of a citizen is well-established Iowa law,” Dryer wrote.

Considering that, the imposition of duties upon drivers in a statute regulating the use of motor vehicles is not a seizure, Dryer wrote.

Dryer went on to say the law’s requirements also do not infringe upon Soules’ constitutional privilege against self-incrimination because “only evidence that is testimonial in nature is protected by the Fifth Amendment.”

“The act of remaining at or returning to the scene of an accident causing a person’s death is no more testimonial than a person in custody’s submission to fingerprinting, photographing, or other physical measurements, writing or speaking for identification, standing, walking or making a particular gesture, or submission to a blood test,” she wrote.

And, she continued, because the statue gives the driver two options — either communicate to an officer where you can be found or return to the scene — he or she is not compelled to talk with law enforcement or and therefore not compelled to give evidence that is testimonial in nature.

Time one must stay at crash ‘fairly ascertainable’

Also at issue in the motion to dismiss was the length of time that Soules stayed, or should have stayed, at the scene of the crash.

Soules spent less than 14 minutes at the crash site, based on the time of the 911 call and the time law enforcement arrived, Brown said during the November hearing.

“People who have a fender bender stay at a crash scene longer than Mr. Soules,” he added.

After performing CPR, Soules walked away and was picked up by an unidentified person, Iowa State Patrol Sgt. Scott Bright said at the time of the incident.

“By the time a deputy arrived on the scene, Soules had already left in a red truck,” Brown said.

Soules was taken into custody a couple of hours later at his home, about six miles away in rural Arlington.

Part of the defense's issue with the Iowa law is that it doesn’t clarify exactly how long someone should stay on scene.

“The law is unconstitutionally vague,” Montgomery said.

Before disagreeing, Dryer wrote that in challenges to legislature acts, the statute is “given any reasonable construction” and “the party challenging a statute on vagueness grounds must negate every reasonable basis upon which the statute might be upheld.”

While it is “unreasonable” that a driver remain on scene “endlessly,” Dryer wrote, the length of time a driver is required to stay at the scene of a fatal crash as indicated by the statue is “fairly ascertainable.”

“All surviving drivers involved in an accident causing the death of a person must remain at the accident scene until law enforcement authorities have responded to the required immediate accident report, arrived at the accident scene, and had the opportunity to see the surviving drivers,” she wrote.

In closing, Dryer wrote that even though “the defendant’s conduct does not clearly fall outside the statue,” for the purposes of deciding whether to toss a charge, she is required to accept the prosecution's factual allegations as true.

In doing that, she wrote, the “statute is not unconstitutionally vague as applied to the defendant.”